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

This suspended home, nestled in the Hollywood Hills, appeared on the listings this week. The listing price stands at an impressive $25 million.

Owners Choice to Let Go

The Stahl family, who have held title to the home for its complete 65-year history, released a announcement regarding their choice to sell. They noted that the house had proven excessively demanding to maintain.

"This home has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become increasingly challenging to maintain it with the care and effort it so richly deserves," commented the offspring of the first owners.

They continued that the period had come to find a new "guardian" for the house – "someone who not only appreciates its architectural importance but also comprehends its role in the cultural landscape of LA and further afield."

Modest Inception

The beginnings of the Stahl house go back to May 1954, when the first owners purchased a hilly plot of land in the then undeveloped Hollywood Hills neighborhood for $13,500.

Despite the Stahl house evolving into a well-known icon of the city, the family often stressed that "no celebrities ever lived here," describing themselves as a "working-class family living in a white-collar house."

Construction Feat

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

In November 1957, the Stahls interviewed architect Pierre Koenig, who consented to accept the project. With support from the notable Case Study program, pioneered by a prominent magazine editor, the Stahls received subsidies to hire Koenig.

The contemporary program "focused on trial and error" and "using new building materials and erecting in sites that maybe previously the techniques didn’t really allow," remarked an specialist from a city preservation society. "All these elements are integrated into a place like the Stahl house, which was cutting-edge, progressive and unthinkable in terms of how it was constructed on that plot that everyone else believed, at the time, was impossible to build."

Realization and Famous Impact

The Stahl house became Case Study house No. 22, and work started in May 1959. According to the residents, construction cost "only $37,500" and the home was finished by May 1960. The final product was "an idealized version of what everyone envisions LA is and should be," the expert noted.

Soon after the build ended, a renowned architectural photographer took what is arguably the most famous photograph of the home. Taken through the full-length glass windows, the photograph shows two women sitting in the home’s living room but appearing to levitate over the Los Angeles skyline.

"I think the enduring impact of this photograph is due to the way it expresses an concept about dwelling in Los Angeles, an duality about being both in the city and detached from it," commented a principal of an architectural firm and educator at a major university.

Historic Recognition

The home has enjoyed memorable cameos in movies, TV and videos, including several well-known 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 preserved site on the National Register of Historic Places.

Future Custodianship

The home is still open for public viewings, as it has been for the last 17 years, although all tours are currently sold out through February. In their release concerning the sale, the family indicated they would give "ample notice" before ending the tours.

The property description for the home highlights finding a new owner who will maintain the essence of the space.

"For collectors of style, advocates of building, or institutions seeking to safeguard an American masterpiece, there is simply no equal," the description read. "This is not merely a transaction; it is a transfer of stewardship – a quest for the next guardian who will respect the house’s history, respect its design integrity, and guarantee its protection for generations to come."

The authority affirmed that the decision of purchaser would be a crucial one, given the home’s past.

"I believe any time a longtime owner, and a guardianship like this, is being sold of a home like this, it always causes a little bit of a concern – because you are unsure what the next owner, what their aims will be. And do they grasp and cherish the house, as in this specific case the Stahl family has?"