Steelhouse for sale for the first time since the case study home was built

For decades, the Steel House in the Hollywood Hills was a rare sight – a globally recognized icon of mid-century modernism and Los Angeles glamour, still in the hands of the family that operated it in the 1960s. But now it is for sale.

The asking price is $25 million, which may seem like a staggering number for a two-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot home in a prime location. But these figures may not surprise fans of modern architecture who know it as Case Study House #22.

It was designed by architect Pierre Koenig for the Stahl family, captured on black-and-white film by photographer Julius Schulman, and has since been admired around the world.

The architect newspaper It is called “the most famous building in the world”. Los Angeles Magazine called Shulman’s photo “perhaps the most famous photo of Los Angeles.”

“There’s no compass for the Stahl house. It’s unique,” said William Baker, chief architect of the Beverly Hills real estate firm. House joined the company Fall Catalog November 12.

By Friday afternoon, Baker said, he had received hundreds of calls inquiring. Considering the proposals, Baker said, the family is open to individuals or organizations — “anyone who knows about it, respects the house and tells a story about it.”

The Stahls bought the lot in 1954 for $13,500 and enlisted Koenig to design the house after other architects were intimidated by the lot’s decline. Koenig’s solution was a cantilevered L-shaped structure with steel and glass walls, a pool and a stone-faced free space between the living and dining areas.

Baker said the second bedroom can only be accessed through the primary bedroom — “an efficient use of space” for five members. The Stahl family said the house cost $37,500 to build.

Shortly after the house was completed, photographer Julius Shulman created a black-and-white photograph that symbolized the time. It shows a house at night, with two young women sitting inside in a corner, floor-to-ceiling windows illuminating the lights of the LA Basin in the background.

To bring out the lights, Shulman later told Los Angeles magazine, he used seven minutes of exposure. The resulting image, along with other Shellmans made from the house, is now owned by the Getty Research Institute.

Over the years, the home has served as a filming location for numerous television and film productions, including the 1968 pilot episode of “Columbo” and the films “Galaxy Quest” (1999) and “Nurse Betty” (2000).

“This home has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we have grown older, it has become increasingly challenging to maintain it with the care and energy it so richly deserves,” the Stahl family announced on their website. Bruce and Shari Stahl, surviving children of original owners Buck and Carlotta Stahl, added, “[O]Your itinerary will remain unchanged for the time being, and we will provide full notice in advance of any changes.

For the past 17 years, the house has been open for tours, most recently on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, starting at $60 per adult during the day, $90 in the evening, with advance booking required and limited photography restrictions. However, d Stahl website Indicates that all tours are sold out by the end of February.

The estate listing notes that the home is “a protected landmark and the only case study home owned by the original family.”

When nominated for the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, Los Angeles preservationist Amanda Stewart called it “perhaps the most famous house built in the Case Study House Program.” This program, sponsored by John Antenza’s Arts and Architecture magazine from 1945 to 1966, yielded 25 completed houses, which today are considered the best examples of mid-century house design.

“There aren’t many of these case study homes left. I think there are 19 now,” Baker said. (Baker also said he handled the sale recently Case Study Home #10 (To a customer in Pasadena who lost his home in January’s Pacific Palisades fire.)

The Stahl home stands on Woods Drive just north of the West Hollywood city limits, about a quarter mile from Chateau Marmont.

Many architecturally significant Southern California modern houses are owned by institutions, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House (1921), owned by the City of Los Angeles; Schindler House (1922), owned by the Friends of Schindler House and operated by the MAK Center for Art and Architecture; and the Ames House (1949), owned by the nonprofit Ames Foundation. The Sheets Goldstein Residence, designed by John Lautner in 1961-63 and renovated by Lautner in the 1990s, was commissioned by owner James Goldstein. LA County Museum of Art.