The renowned Stahl house, a epitome of mid-century modern design, is up for sale for the very first time in its entire history.
This cantilevered home, nestled in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, was listed on the listings this past week. The asking price stands at a substantial $25 million.
Family Decision to Sell
The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the property for its full 65-year timeline, shared a statement regarding their decision to sell. They stated that the house had become excessively demanding to maintain.
"This home has been the core of our lives for a long time, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become increasingly challenging to maintain it with the attention and energy it so rightfully warrants," stated the descendants of the original owners.
They further stated that the period had arrived to find a new "custodian" for the house – "an individual who not only appreciates its design legacy but also comprehends its position in the cultural landscape of the city and beyond."
Unassuming Inception
The origins of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the original owners bought a sloped plot of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills neighborhood for $13,500.
Despite the Stahl house evolving into a renowned representation of the city, the family often stressed that "no famous individuals ever lived here," describing themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a luxury house."
Design Feat
The initial design for the Stahl house was conceived during the summer of 1956. However, many builders were originally reluctant to construct it on the difficult hillside.
In November 1957, the Stahls met with architect Pierre Koenig, who agreed to accept the challenge. With assistance from the influential Case Study program, spearheaded by a key magazine editor, the Stahls received subsidies to hire Koenig.
The contemporary program "focused on experimentation" and "employing new resources and constructing in locations that maybe earlier the engineering didn’t really enable," remarked an authority from a local heritage organization. "Each of these factors are integrated into a place like the Stahl house, which was innovative, progressive and unthinkable in terms of how it was built on that location that everyone else believed, at the time, was impossible to build."
Realization and Famous Influence
The Stahl house was assigned Case Study house No. 22, and building started in May 1959. According to the owners, construction amounted to "just $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The result was "the ultimate vision of what everyone imagines LA is and should be," the authority added.
Soon after the build ended, a famous architectural photographer shot what is possibly the most well-known picture of the home. Taken through the enormous glass windows, the photograph depicts two women sitting in the home’s living room but seeming to float over the LA skyline.
"I believe the lasting effect of this photo is due to the way it expresses an idea about residing in Los Angeles, an contrast about being both metropolitan and detached from it," commented a head of an architectural company and lecturer at a major university.
Cultural Designation
The home has had notable cameos in cinema, television and music videos, including several popular titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In 1999, the city declared the Stahl house a protected monument, and in 2013, the house was listed as a conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.
Coming Ownership
The home is still open for public viewings, as it has been for the previous 17 years, although all slots are currently fully booked through February. In their announcement concerning the sale, the family indicated they would give "plenty of advance notice" before ending the tours.
The listing for the home stresses finding a new owner who will maintain the spirit of the space.
"For connoisseurs of style, patrons of building, or organizations seeking to safeguard an national treasure, there is simply no parallel," the description say. "This is not merely a sale; it is a passing of responsibility – a search for the next custodian who will celebrate the house’s past, respect its original vision, and guarantee its protection for posterity."
The specialist agreed that the selection of buyer would be a vital one, given the home’s past.
"In my view any time a original family, and a custodianship like this, is changing ownership of a property like this, it always gives us a little bit of a hesitation – because you never know what the next owner, what their plans will be. And can they understand and cherish the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"
