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The renowned Stahl house, a epitome of modernist architectural design, is currently listed for the first time in its complete history.

This cantilevered home, perched in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, appeared on the real estate market this recent week. The price tag stands at a substantial $25 million.

Stewards Choice to Sell

The Stahl family, who have held title to the residence for its entire 65-year timeline, issued a statement regarding their resolution to sell. They stated that the dwelling had grown excessively demanding to upkeep.

"This home has been the heart of our lives for a long time, but as we’ve aged, it has become increasingly challenging to care for it with the dedication and effort it so truly merits," wrote the descendants of the first owners.

They further stated that the period had emerged to find a new "steward" for the house – "someone who not only values its design legacy but also grasps its place in the cultural fabric of Los Angeles and beyond."

Unassuming Beginnings

The beginnings of the Stahl house go back to May 1954, when the original owners acquired a hilly parcel of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills area for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a renowned symbol of the city, the residents often emphasized that "nobody famous ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "working-class family living in a architectural masterpiece."

Design Challenge

The first design for the Stahl house was created during the summer of 1956. However, many builders were initially reluctant to erect it on the precarious hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to accept the challenge. With backing from the influential Case Study program, spearheaded by a leading magazine editor, the Stahls received support to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "was about innovation" and "employing new resources and building in locations that maybe earlier the technology didn’t really permit," remarked an specialist from a regional preservation society. "All those things are integrated into a place like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, contemporary and inconceivable 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 designated Case Study house No. 22, and building started in May 1959. According to the owners, construction amounted to "only $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The final product was "a perfect representation of what everyone thinks LA is and should be," the expert commented.

Soon after completion, a celebrated architectural photographer took what is arguably the most well-known picture of the home. Captured through the full-length glass windows, the photograph shows two women seated in the home’s living room but appearing to hover over the LA skyline.

"I believe the lasting influence of this image is due to the way it expresses an concept about dwelling in Los Angeles, an contrast about being both metropolitan and detached from it," said a head of an architectural company and lecturer at a major university.

Cultural Designation

The home has had memorable appearances in cinema, television and music videos, including several well-known titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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

Next Ownership

The home continues to be open for tours, as it has been for the previous 17 years, although all slots are currently sold out through February. In their release announcing the sale, the family indicated they would give "sufficient warning" before discontinuing the tours.

The property description for the home stresses finding a purchaser who will conserve the spirit of the space.

"For connoisseurs of style, advocates of architecture, or entities seeking to safeguard an iconic work, there is simply no parallel," the details state. "This goes beyond a purchase; it is a handover of custody – a search for the next guardian who will honor the house’s past, value its original vision, and secure its conservation for posterity."

The expert agreed that the selection of buyer would be a vital one, given the home’s history.

"I think any time a original family, and a stewardship like this, is transferring hands of a property like this, it always causes a little bit of a pause – because you never know what the next owner, what their intentions will be. And can they grasp and value the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"