Most Iconic House in L.A.?

Between the sleek, steel modern homes designed by Pierre Koenig and the ultra-cool photographs of them taken by Julius Shulman, the two men helped visually define modernism in the mid-century for a largely clueless America.

Now, for the first time in nearly a decade, one of those iconic scenes can be yours—for a tidy $4.5 million.

In fact, one of those Shulman images is serving as a model in marketing and staging Case Study House No. 21 for sale. Also known as the Bailey House (1958), it is located at 9038 Wonderland Park Avenue in the Hollywood Hills.

"I used that shot as the inspiration," admitted Marc Silver, co-listing agent for the property along with Barry Sloane for Sotheby's International Realty. "That shot" is Shulman's now-famous striking image of Koenig and a female companion relaxing in the home's living area.

The Bailey House is one of two homes Koenig designed in the Case Study House program. The steel-framed pair are considered high water marks in the program, which was administered by the Southern California-based Arts & Architecture magazine from 1945 to 1966 to stimulate modernist home designs for moderate-income buyers.

The other Koenig home was the Stahl House (CSH No. 22), which is the site of another famous Shulman photo overlooking the lights of L.A. The Bailey, a two-bed, two-bath covering 1,280 square feet of floor space, is creatively positioned on a quarter-acre lot on the West Hollywood side of the hills.

However, some would argue that No. 21 has an even more innovative design. "The Bailey House represents the ultimate refinement of an ideal developed by Koenig in his early houses and built up through his experience with [architects Raphael] Soriano and Quincy Jones," wrote author Neil Jackson in his 2007 monograph on Koenig. "It was the simplest of solutions achieved in, apparently, the most effortless way, and was a remarkable achievement for such a young man."