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The famous Stahl house, a paragon of modernist architecture, is up for sale for the first time in its complete history.

This suspended home, situated in the Hollywood Hills, appeared on the market this recent week. The asking price stands at an impressive $25 million.

Stewards Move to Let Go

The Stahl family, who have held title to the home for its full 65-year timeline, released a statement regarding their decision to sell. They noted that the dwelling had proven excessively demanding to care for.

"This home has been the core of our lives for a long time, but as we’ve grown older, it has become progressively harder to care for it with the care and vigor it so rightfully warrants," stated the descendants of the first owners.

They continued that the moment had come to find a new "custodian" for the house – "someone who not only recognizes its design legacy but also grasps its role in the cultural history of LA and further afield."

Modest Origins

The inception of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the first owners purchased a hilly parcel of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills area for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house growing into a famous representation of the city, the owners often pointed out that "nobody famous ever lived here," describing themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a luxury house."

Design Undertaking

The original design for the Stahl house was created during the summer of 1956. However, many designers were originally hesitant to erect it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls met with architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to take on the project. With assistance from the influential Case Study program, pioneered by a key magazine editor, the owners received financial aid to commission Koenig.

The progressive program "focused on experimentation" and "using new materials and constructing in sites that maybe before the engineering didn’t really enable," stated an authority from a local heritage organization. "All these elements are wrapped up into a site like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, progressive and unimaginable in terms of how it was erected on that plot that everyone else believed, at the time, was impossible to build."

Realization and Famous Legacy

The Stahl house was designated Case Study house No. 22, and work began in May 1959. According to the residents, construction totaled "a mere $37,500" and the home was move-in ready by May 1960. The outcome was "a perfect representation of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the authority noted.

Soon after the build ended, a famous architectural photographer captured what is arguably the most iconic image of the home. Shot through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the image depicts two women sitting in the home’s living room but seeming to levitate over the Los Angeles skyline.

"In my opinion the enduring effect of that photograph is due to the way it communicates an notion about dwelling in Los Angeles, an duality about being both in the city and separate from it," commented a founder of an architectural firm and lecturer at a prominent university.

Cultural Designation

The home has made memorable appearances in cinema, TV and videos, including several famous titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city declared the Stahl house a heritage site, and in 2013, the house was added as a conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Future Custodianship

The home remains open for tours, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all slots are currently sold out through February. In their release announcing the sale, the family said they would give "plenty of advance notice" before ending the tours.

The listing for the home emphasizes finding a buyer who will conserve the essence of the space.

"For enthusiasts of architecture, supporters of building, or organizations seeking to protect an iconic work, there is simply no equal," the listing say. "This goes beyond a purchase; it is a transfer of stewardship – a quest for the next guardian who will respect the house’s legacy, respect its original vision, and secure its protection for generations to come."

The authority concurred that the decision of buyer would be a critical one, given the home’s past.

"I believe any time a long-term steward, and a stewardship like this, is transferring hands of a home like this, it always causes a little bit of a pause – because you are unsure what the next owner, what their plans will be. And do they grasp and value the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"