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The renowned Stahl house, a quintessential example of modernist design, is now available for the initial occasion in its complete history.

This overhanging dwelling, nestled in the Hollywood Hills, was listed on the listings this recent week. The listing price stands at an impressive $25 million.

Family Decision to Part With

The Stahl family, who have been the proprietors of the home for its entire 65-year timeline, shared a statement regarding their resolution to sell. They expressed that the dwelling had grown excessively demanding to care for.

"This house has been the heart of our lives for a long time, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become progressively harder to look after it with the attention and energy it so richly deserves," stated the offspring of the original owners.

They added that the time had emerged to find a new "custodian" for the house – "an individual who not only appreciates its architectural significance but also understands its role in the cultural history of the city and beyond."

Humble Inception

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

Despite the Stahl house growing into a renowned symbol of the city, the residents often pointed out that "nobody famous ever lived here," referring to themselves as a "average family living in a white-collar house."

Construction Undertaking

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

In November 1957, the owners interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to take on the challenge. With assistance from the notable Case Study program, led by a leading magazine editor, the owners received subsidies to engage Koenig.

The contemporary program "focused on innovation" and "using new building materials and building in locations that maybe earlier the engineering didn’t really permit," remarked an expert from a regional preservation society. "All those things are wrapped up into a site like the Stahl house, which was avant-garde, progressive and unthinkable in terms of how it was constructed on that location that everyone else considered, at the time, was unbuildable."

Completion and Famous Legacy

The Stahl house was assigned Case Study house No. 22, and work commenced in May 1959. According to the residents, construction cost "only $37,500" and the home was completed by May 1960. The result was "a perfect representation of what everyone imagines LA is and should be," the specialist added.

Soon after completion, a renowned architectural photographer captured what is possibly the most well-known photograph of the home. Taken through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the photograph features two women seated in the home’s living room but appearing to hover over the Los Angeles skyline.

"In my opinion the lasting impact of the photograph is due to the way it expresses an concept about residing in Los Angeles, an duality about being both urban and removed from it," commented a founder of an architectural firm and lecturer at a major university.

Historic Designation

The home has enjoyed notable appearances in movies, broadcast and music videos, including several popular 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 listed as a protected property on the National Register of Historic Places.

Future Ownership

The home is still open for public viewings, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all tours are currently reserved through February. In their announcement concerning the sale, the family said they would give "sufficient warning" before ending the tours.

The sales details for the home stresses finding a new owner who will preserve the essence of the space.

"For connoisseurs of design, patrons of architecture, or entities seeking to protect an iconic work, there is simply nothing comparable," the details state. "This is more than a transaction; it is a transfer of stewardship – a search for the next guardian who will respect the house’s legacy, value its original vision, and ensure its preservation for posterity."

The specialist concurred that the decision of purchaser would be a vital one, given the home’s past.

"In my view any time a original family, and a guardianship like this, is transferring hands of a home 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 appreciate the house, as in this particular case the Stahl family has?"