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The famous Stahl house, a paragon of midcentury modern architecture, is up for sale for the initial occasion in its entire history.

This cantilevered dwelling, situated in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, appeared on the real estate market this week. The listing price stands at a substantial $25 million.

Stewards Choice to Part With

The Stahl family, who have owned the residence for its entire 65-year history, issued a declaration regarding their decision to sell. They expressed that the property had proven increasingly challenging to maintain.

"This home has been the heart of our lives for many years, but as we’ve aged, it has become more difficult to look after it with the dedication and energy it so richly deserves," commented the offspring of the initial owners.

They added that the moment had emerged to find a new "steward" for the house – "someone who not only appreciates its architectural significance but also grasps its position in the cultural history of LA and further afield."

Unassuming Inception

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

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a well-known symbol of the city, the owners often stressed that "nobody famous ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a architectural masterpiece."

Architectural Challenge

The initial design for the Stahl house was developed during the warm season of 1956. However, many builders were originally wary to build it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls met with architect Pierre Koenig, who agreed to take on the task. With support from the influential Case Study program, spearheaded by a key magazine editor, the Stahls received subsidies to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "centered around innovation" and "employing new building materials and constructing in places that maybe before the engineering didn’t really permit," commented an expert from a city preservation society. "Each of these factors are wrapped up into a site like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, modern and unthinkable in terms of how it was built on that plot that everyone else considered, at the time, was impossible to build."

Finalization and Famous Impact

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and building commenced in May 1959. According to the owners, construction cost "just $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The result was "the ultimate vision of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the expert commented.

Soon after construction was finished, a celebrated architectural photographer captured what is possibly the most iconic photograph of the home. Shot through the full-length glass windows, the photograph shows two women positioned in the home’s living room but appearing to float over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I think the lasting impact of the photograph is due to the way it expresses an notion about dwelling in Los Angeles, an ambivalence about being both metropolitan and detached from it," said a principal of an architectural practice and lecturer at a major university.

Historic Recognition

The home has made notable appearances in movies, television and videos, including several popular 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 listed as a conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Next Custodianship

The home remains open for tours, as it has been for the past 17 years, although all tours are currently fully booked through February. In their statement announcing the sale, the family stated they would give "sufficient warning" before ending the tours.

The listing for the home stresses finding a new owner who will conserve the character of the space.

"For collectors of style, patrons of building, or institutions seeking to preserve an American masterpiece, there is simply no parallel," the listing read. "This goes beyond a sale; it is a transfer of stewardship – a search for the next steward who will respect the house’s history, value its architectural purity, and guarantee its protection for generations to come."

The expert concurred that the choice of new owner would be a critical one, given the home’s past.

"I believe any time a original family, and a custodianship like this, is transferring hands of a property like this, it always causes a little bit of a hesitation – because you never know what the next owner, what their aims will be. And will they understand and cherish the house, as in this unique case the Stahl family has?"