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The renowned Stahl house, a paragon of mid-century modern design, is up for sale for the first time in its whole history.

This overhanging dwelling, nestled in the Hollywood Hills area, appeared on the market this week. The price tag stands at an impressive $25 million.

Stewards Choice to Sell

The Stahl family, who have owned the home for its entire 65-year timeline, released a announcement regarding their decision to sell. They expressed that the dwelling had proven increasingly challenging to maintain.

"This house has been the core of our lives for many years, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become progressively harder to care for it with the attention and effort it so richly deserves," commented the children of the first owners.

They added that the period had come to find a new "custodian" for the house – "someone who not only appreciates its architectural importance but also understands its role in the cultural landscape of Los Angeles and elsewhere."

Unassuming Inception

The origins of the Stahl house trace back to May 1954, when the first owners acquired a hilly patch of land in the previously undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house growing into a renowned symbol of the city, the residents often emphasized that "no celebrities ever lived here," characterizing themselves as a "blue-collar family living in a luxury house."

Construction Feat

The initial design for the Stahl house was conceived during the summer months of 1956. However, many designers were at first wary to erect it on the difficult hillside.

In November 1957, the owners consulted architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to take on the challenge. With support from the influential Case Study program, spearheaded by a prominent magazine editor, the owners received subsidies to engage Koenig.

The contemporary program "focused on trial and error" and "utilizing new materials and building in places that maybe earlier the techniques didn’t really permit," commented an authority from a regional preservation society. "All those things are combined into a property like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, modern and inconceivable in terms of how it was constructed on that location that everyone else considered, at the time, was unbuildable."

Finalization and Cultural Influence

The Stahl house was assigned Case Study house No. 22, and construction began in May 1959. According to the owners, construction totaled "a mere $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The final product was "an idealized version of what everyone imagines LA is and should be," the specialist noted.

Soon after completion, a renowned architectural photographer shot what is possibly the most famous image of the home. Captured through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the image shows two women seated in the home’s living room but appearing to levitate over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I believe the long-standing influence of the image is due to the way it expresses an notion about living in Los Angeles, an duality about being both metropolitan and detached from it," said a founder of an architectural firm and adjunct professor at a leading university.

Protected Recognition

The home has enjoyed notable appearances in film, TV and music videos, including several famous titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city recognized the Stahl house a historic-cultural landmark, and in 2013, the house was included as a conserved building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Coming Stewardship

The home is still open for visits, as it has been for the previous 17 years, although all tours are currently sold out through February. In their release announcing the sale, the family indicated they would give "plenty of advance notice" before discontinuing the tours.

The sales details for the home emphasizes finding a new owner who will conserve the character of the space.

"For connoisseurs of design, supporters of architecture, or organizations seeking to preserve an American masterpiece, there is simply no equal," the listing read. "This is not merely a sale; it is a transfer of stewardship – a search for the next guardian who will honor the house’s legacy, value its design integrity, and secure its conservation for generations to come."

The specialist affirmed that the decision of new owner would be a vital one, given the home’s past.

"I believe any time a longtime owner, and a stewardship like this, is changing ownership of a property like this, it always creates a little bit of a concern – because you are unsure what the next owner, what their aims will be. And can they understand and cherish the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"