You know the photo even if you don't know the name. That glass box hanging over Los Angeles at dusk, city lights spilling out below the cantilevered pool like someone tipped over a jewelry drawer. It's on posters, in movies, and all over Instagram, usually captioned with something dreamy about mid-century architecture. It's the Stahl House, it sits in the Hollywood Hills, and yes, you can actually go inside. MSN just put together a full guide to visiting, and I have thoughts, because I've done this one myself.

Built in 1959 by architect Pierre Koenig for Buck and Carlotta Stahl, it's Case Study House No. 22, part of that postwar experiment where architects tried to figure out how Americans could live well for less. The Stahls raised their actual family in it. That's the part that gets me. This isn't a museum piece that was always precious, it was a house with kids doing homework at that famous glass wall.

Practical stuff, because that's why you're here. Access is by guided tour only, and you have to book ahead through the official Stahl House site. And I mean ahead, especially for the sunset slot, which is the one you want. You get real time inside, not a shuffle-past roped-off furniture situation. Photography is allowed and encouraged, so bring whatever camera you're serious about. My first visit I brought a phone with a cracked screen and spent the whole golden hour being jealous of everyone else's tripods. Learn from me.

Timing is everything. Daytime tours show you the architecture and the views over the city, but the night tour is when the house does its trick, when the glass disappears and Los Angeles turns into the actual light fixture. Sunset tours split the difference and, from what I saw when I booked mine, they go first.

Getting there is its own little adventure. The house sits off a narrow winding road above the Sunset Strip, and it's private property, so you can't just wander up for a look from the street. A rideshare is your friend here, drop-off and pickup, no parking drama. Do not be me in 2019, convinced I could street-park a rental in the Hills and then descending a stranger's staircase in the dark wondering which canyon I'd left my car in.

Pair it with something else since tours tend to run into the evening. Grab dinner on Sunset beforehand, or make a day of the neighborhood's other mid-century landmarks. The Eames House is a separate booking but an easy pairing if architecture pilgrimages are your thing, and they absolutely should be.

Is it touristy? Sure. Does every third person there have the same photo you're about to take? Also yes. Doesn't matter. Every place has something, and this one happens to have a view that made an entire city a design icon. Just go, book the sunset slot, and thank me from the pool deck.