The Stahl House: Case Study House 22 by Pierre Koenig
Pierre Koenig's glass-and-steel icon over the Sunset Strip went up for sale in late 2025 for the first time in 65 years. Here is the house, the history, and what buying a Case Study House in Los Angeles actually involves.
There is a single photograph most people picture when they think of Los Angeles at night: two women in white dresses in a glass room that floats over a carpet of city lights. Julius Shulman took it in 1960, the house is the Stahl House, and in November 2025 the Stahl family put it on the market for the first time in the home's history. For anyone who has ever wondered whether you can actually own a Case Study House, that listing turned a museum piece back into a question of real estate.
The Stahl House, also called Case Study House 22, is a 2,200-square-foot glass-and-steel home at 1635 Woods Drive in the Hollywood Hills, designed by architect Pierre Koenig and completed in 1960. It is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 670 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In November 2025 the original Stahl family listed it for sale for the first time, asking 25 million dollars.
The house sits on a narrow lot at the top of Woods Drive, above the Sunset Strip. From the street it barely reads as a building. The drama is all on the far side, where an L-shaped plan of steel and glass wraps a pool and then stops, cantilevered out over the hillside with nothing under it but air and West Hollywood. That one move, a living room with glass walls hanging over the city, is why the Stahl House became the most photographed modern home in the world.
Debbie Pisaro has spent 24 years working with architectural homes across Los Angeles, and the Stahl House is the one she gets asked about more than any other. It is the house people fall in love with before they know the architect's name. So this page is the honest version: what the house is, who Pierre Koenig was, why the Case Study program still matters to buyers, and what it takes to buy a landmark like this one when it comes to market.
What makes the Stahl House so famous?
The Stahl House is famous because of one image and one idea. The image is Julius Shulman's 1960 photograph of the glass living room hovering above the Los Angeles grid, which became the single most recognizable picture of mid-century California modernism. The idea is that a working family, not a millionaire, commissioned it. That combination, a modest budget and a spectacular result, is what made the house a symbol.
Buck and Carlotta Stahl bought the lot in 1954 for around 13,500 dollars. Neighbors thought the parcel was unbuildable, too steep and too narrow to hold a house. Buck spent years hauling in broken concrete to build up the pad himself. When he finally hired Pierre Koenig in 1957, he brought a rough model he had made from cardboard, showing the L-shape and the glass. Koenig kept the idea and engineered it into steel.
The finished house is small by trophy-home standards, about 2,200 square feet, two bedrooms, with a carport, a pool, and that famous glass corner. It reads as generous because almost every wall facing the view is glass, and the steel structure is thin enough to nearly disappear. Koenig wanted the house to feel like it was made of light and air rather than mass, and on the right evening it still does.
Who was Pierre Koenig?
Pierre Koenig was a Los Angeles architect who built his reputation on exposed steel, and the Stahl House is his best-known work. Trained at the University of Southern California, he believed steel framing could make good modern housing faster and cheaper, and he designed two of the Case Study Houses, number 21 and number 22, to prove it. Koenig taught at USC for decades and kept refining the same idea across his whole career.
Koenig was still a young architect when he took the Stahl commission, only a few years out of school. What he did with it was quietly radical. Rather than fight the difficult lot, he let the steel structure do the work, using long spans to push the house out over the edge. The result looks effortless, which is the hardest thing to pull off in architecture.
His fingerprints are elsewhere in the region too. Debbie has written about the Veneklasen House in Mandeville Canyon, another Koenig steel design, and about the wider USC Case Study home in Studio City that carried the same DNA into the Valley. Koenig belongs to the same generation as A. Quincy Jones and the other architects who made Los Angeles the capital of post-war modernism.
What is a Case Study House?
A Case Study House is one of a series of experimental homes commissioned by Arts and Architecture magazine between 1945 and 1966 to design affordable, modern housing for post-war America. The magazine's editor, John Entenza, recruited leading architects, gave each a real client and a real budget, then published the results as models the public could copy. Roughly two dozen were built, most of them in and around Los Angeles.
The program was meant to be practical, not precious. The idea was that returning soldiers and young families needed housing, and that modern design, new materials, and open plans could deliver it well and affordably. Many of the houses used steel, glass, and prefabricated parts precisely because those were supposed to be cheap and fast.
History had other plans. The Case Study Houses that survived became some of the most valuable residential real estate in California, and the Stahl House became the emblem of the entire movement. If you want the wider context, Debbie's guide to seven iconic architectural homes in Los Angeles puts Case Study House 22 alongside the Neutra, Schindler, and Lautner houses that define the same era.
Can you actually buy the Stahl House?
Yes. In November 2025 the Stahl family listed the house for sale for the first time in its history, asking 25 million dollars, which works out to roughly 11,000 dollars per square foot. The family owned and cared for the home for more than 65 years and ran it as a private tour destination for decades before deciding to sell. Any buyer should confirm the current listing status with the market, since a landmark like this can move quickly or come off the market.
A price like that is not about square footage, and everyone involved knows it. At 2,200 square feet, the Stahl House is smaller than many new-build guest houses in the same hills. What a buyer is paying for is authorship, provenance, and the single most reproduced view in Los Angeles. That is a different kind of value than a spec mansion, and it is priced by scarcity rather than by the comps on the street.
A landmark trades on provenance, not price per foot. The comps that matter are other authored houses, not the new build next door.
The house is also protected. Because it is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 670 and a National Register property, a new owner cannot simply gut it or tear it down. Those protections are part of what preserves the value, and they are also part of what a buyer needs to understand going in. Debbie walks clients through exactly this trade-off, the way a designation shapes what you can and cannot do with a home, before they ever write an offer.
How do you buy an architect-designed home in Los Angeles?
Buying an architect-designed or landmarked home in Los Angeles works differently than buying a standard house, and the differences show up before, during, and after the sale. The property is often protected by a Historic-Cultural Monument designation, may qualify for a Mills Act contract, and is valued on authorship and condition of original fabric rather than on neighborhood comps. The right agent knows the architect, the designation rules, and the small circle of people who buy at this level.
In practice, that means a few things matter more than usual:
- Provenance and originality. How much of the original architecture survives, and what has been altered, drives value more than any recent kitchen remodel.
- Designation rules. A Historic-Cultural Monument or National Register listing limits what you can change, and a Mills Act contract can reduce property taxes in exchange for preserving the home.
- The right comps. A Koenig, a Neutra, a Lautner, or a Schindler is priced against other authored houses, not against the block.
- Access to the market. Landmark homes often trade quietly. Debbie's pocket listing network exists for exactly these moments.
This is where an architectural real estate agent in Los Angeles earns their keep. Debbie Pisaro represents buyers and sellers of architecturally significant homes across the city, from the Studio City hills to the Westside, and she keeps a working knowledge of who owns what and which houses might move. For a buyer chasing a Case Study House, that network is often the difference between hearing about a home and touring it.
If you are earlier in the process and simply learning the landscape, the architectural homes collection on debbiepisaro.com profiles dozens of significant Los Angeles houses, and Coastline 840's guide to how to price an architectural home explains why these properties do not follow the usual math. Debbie also writes about the wider region's design culture, from Los Feliz architecture to the coastal neighborhoods she covers statewide.
Is the Stahl House for sale?
Yes. In November 2025 the original Stahl family listed the house for sale for the first time in its 65-year history, asking 25 million dollars. Because landmark homes can go into contract or come off the market quickly, a serious buyer should confirm the current status through the market. Debbie Pisaro can check the live status for you.
How much does the Stahl House cost?
The Stahl House was listed in November 2025 at 25 million dollars, which is roughly 11,000 dollars per square foot for the 2,200-square-foot home. The price reflects the house's authorship and landmark status rather than its size, since it is valued as a Pierre Koenig original rather than by neighborhood comparables.
Can you tour the Stahl House?
For decades the Stahl family ran the house as a private tour destination, with scheduled visits booked in advance rather than casual drop-ins. Tour availability depends on the family and, going forward, on any new owner. Anyone planning a visit should confirm current arrangements directly before making the trip up Woods Drive.
Who designed the Stahl House and when was it built?
The Stahl House was designed by architect Pierre Koenig, who began work in 1957 and completed the house by May 1960. It was built as Case Study House 22 under the program run by Arts and Architecture magazine, and it remains Koenig's most celebrated work.
Why is the Stahl House so famous?
The Stahl House became famous through Julius Shulman's 1960 photograph of its glass living room floating above the Los Angeles skyline, one of the most reproduced architectural images ever made. Its fame also rests on the story that a working family, the Stahls, commissioned it on a modest budget rather than a fortune.
Is the Stahl House a protected landmark?
Yes. The Stahl House was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 670 on November 9, 1999, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 under reference number 13000519. Those designations limit demolition and major alteration, which helps preserve the house for future owners.
What are the rules for owning a landmarked Case Study House?
A landmarked home like the Stahl House cannot be demolished or significantly altered without review, and exterior changes are tightly controlled. In exchange, many designated homes qualify for a Mills Act contract, which can lower property taxes in return for maintaining the historic fabric. Debbie Pisaro walks buyers through these rules before they write an offer.
Who is a good architectural real estate agent in Los Angeles?
Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, the founder of Coastline 840, and a 2025 Inman Luxury Leader who represents buyers and sellers of architectural and historic homes across Los Angeles. She specializes in Case Study Houses, mid-century modern homes, and landmarked properties, and can be reached at (310) 362-6429.
Coastline 840 · 160 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90026 · DRE #01369110
Debbie Pisaro, DRE #01369110, is the founder of Coastline 840, an independent California brokerage, and a 2025 Inman Luxury Leader with 24 years of experience in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes. She writes about California real estate at debbiepisaro.com, losfelizliving.com, and coastline840.com. Published May 2026, updated July 2026.
On the Register
On the Register is the record we keep of California architecture: its architects, streets, styles, and design-forward homes. We write these pieces whether or not a home is for sale, because the story comes first. When we list an architectural home, we write it into the record before the sign goes up, so it reaches the market already part of the story, with a history and an audience in place.
© 2026 Debbie Pisaro, Coastline 840 · ontheregister.com