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The famous Stahl house, a paragon of midcentury modern architectural design, is currently listed for the very first time in its complete history.

This suspended home, nestled in the Hollywood Hills area, hit the market this week. The asking price stands at a notable $25 million.

Family Move to Part With

The Stahl family, who have owned the property for its complete 65-year timeline, shared a announcement regarding their resolution to sell. They expressed that the house had grown increasingly challenging to maintain.

"This home has been the center 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 richly deserves," commented the children of the first owners.

They added that the moment had arrived to find a new "steward" for the house – "a person who not only recognizes its architectural significance but also comprehends its position in the cultural fabric of LA and elsewhere."

Unassuming Inception

The inception of the Stahl house date to May 1954, when the initial owners bought a mountainous plot of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills district for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house growing into a well-known icon of the city, the residents often emphasized that "nobody famous ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "working-class family living in a luxury house."

Design Undertaking

The initial design for the Stahl house was created during the summer of 1956. However, many architects were originally wary to construct it on the challenging hillside.

In November 1957, the Stahls consulted architect Pierre Koenig, who decided to accept the challenge. With backing from the notable Case Study program, spearheaded by a leading magazine editor, the family received financial aid to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "focused on trial and error" and "employing new materials and building in locations that maybe earlier the engineering didn’t really enable," commented an specialist from a regional preservation society. "All those things are combined into a site like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, progressive and inconceivable in terms of how it was constructed on that plot that everyone else believed, at the time, was unbuildable."

Realization and Cultural Influence

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and building commenced in May 1959. According to the residents, construction cost "just $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The result was "a perfect representation of what everyone imagines LA is and should be," the authority commented.

Soon after completion, a renowned architectural photographer captured what is possibly the most well-known photograph of the home. Shot through the full-length glass windows, the photo depicts two women seated in the home’s living room but looking to levitate over the city skyline.

"I think the enduring influence of that photograph is due to the way it expresses an notion about residing in Los Angeles, an contrast about being both urban and removed from it," commented a head of an architectural firm and lecturer at a prominent university.

Historic Status

The home has had notable cameos in movies, broadcast and music videos, including several well-known titles from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1999, the city recognized 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 Stewardship

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

The listing for the home stresses finding a buyer who will preserve the spirit of the space.

"For collectors of architecture, patrons of architecture, or organizations seeking to protect an American masterpiece, there is simply nothing comparable," the listing say. "This is more than a transaction; it is a handover of custody – a search for the next custodian who will celebrate the house’s past, appreciate its architectural purity, and guarantee its protection for future generations."

The specialist affirmed that the decision of purchaser would be a critical one, given the home’s history.

"I think any time a original family, and a guardianship like this, is transferring hands of a property like this, it always causes a little bit of a hesitation – because you are unsure what the next owner, what their aims will be. And will they understand and cherish the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"