Stahl House
DETAILS:
Location: 1635 Woods Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90069
Hours of Operation: Dependent on tour time and by reservations only. Schedule and booking available on the Stahl House official website provided in “resources” below. (Generally speaking, tours are available on Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays. Each day typically offers 3 sessions; an afternoon tour, late afternoon tour, & evening tour)
Parking: Please see their website for details since they have very specific parking instructions. But as an overview, all guests in your reservation must arrive in the same vehicle unless other arrangements have been made. They allow one vehicle for every five guests up to a maximum of five vehicles in the carport area in front of the house. All guests must arrive by vehicle. They do not allow “walk ups” and will supposedly be turned away, even if you have a reservation. Do not park on the street or adjacent streets.
Cost:
Afternoon & late-afternoon tours: $60.00 for 1 person / $35.00 each for 2 or more people in a single group. (This is the current price listed on the website which was definitely confusing, but basically it’s $35 per individual if you come with at least one other person. For some reason, you get dinged for coming alone)
Evening tours: $90.00 for 1 person / $50.00 each for 2 or more people in a single group. (Again, very confusing. But as above, it’s $50 per individual if you come with at least one other person. And $90 if go by yourself)
Time Commitment: Afternoon & late afternoon tours are 1 hour long. Evening tours are 90 minutes long.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word iconic as, “widely known and acknowledged especially for distinctive excellence”. In that case, it’s the perfect adjective to describe the Stahl House. Minimal yet elegant, it’s been admired by architectural enthusiasts and jet-set aficionados ever since it was first immortalized in Time Magazine by photographer, Julius Shulman back in 1960. It’s a picture that’s been unsuccessfully mimicked (present company included) by every one of its visitors from that moment forward.
Buck and Carlotta Stahl had a simple vision when they set out to build their dream house. They wanted a home encased in glass in order to take advantage of the panoramic view from their lofted position in the Hollywood Hills (located above another Los Angeles institution; the Chateau Marmont). After being told it was a fool’s errand more than once, they finally found their man in architect, Pierre Koenig. Revolutionary for its time, the house was an experiment in architectural modernism. At worst, it could’ve ended up looking like a giant fish tank, but thankfully Koenig avoided this aesthetic. Instead, the Stahl House helped define a new wave of design for an entire generation. And for us heathens, it just looks cool. Both classic and timeless, it wouldn’t be hard to picture Don Draper or one of the Kardashians feeling completely at home here. It’s this kind of universal allure that has kept visitors flocking for as long as the Stahl House has been open for public visitation.
And visitors do flock! Tour reservations are in such demand, you typically can’t find one available until a month or two out. The reason for this is two-fold. One; as you’d expect, it’s a popular attraction. And two; they cap the size of each tour group between 10-15 people, depending on which tour you book. This is by necessity because the house is small! You’ll definitely be squeezing by one another as the docent shows you around the property. Because of this size, the tour is also pretty short (1hr for afternoon tours & 90 minutes for evening tours). The docent lead portion lasts 30-40 minutes (if that) and the reminder of your time is spent just taking the house in and getting all the perquisite pics for social media (guilty as charged). So while an hour may sound like a short amount of time, it’s more than plenty to imagine yourself out on the patio with an Old Fashioned in hand after a busy day at the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency as you watch the sun set over Los Angeles.
