Steve Jobs gets permission to raze Spanish-style CA mansion
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Steve Jobs has won permission to tear down his mansion in Woodside, California. The historic home (built for mining magnate Daniel Jackling in 1925) sits on 6 acres of forested land; it has 30 rooms, 14 bedrooms and 13 1/2 bathrooms. Steve Jobs bought the mansion in 1984 and lived in it for 10 years before renting it out, but it has been vacant since 2000.
In 2004 Jobs applied for a demolition permit to tear the mansion down so he could build a newer one on the same spot. Though the Woodside Council said the building was a historic resource, they finally agreed with Jobs that restoring it would be expensive and "economically unworkable." That's when a group called Save Our Heritage stepped in. They filed a suit to block the demolition, and a judge and appellate court agreed that Jobs had failed to show that tearing down his house was the only viable option.
In May 2009, Jobs presented evidence to the council that it would cost millions of dollars more to renovate the mansion than to build his proposed new home. The evidence included an expert report on the continued deterioration of the building, which has suffered from rot, mold, decay, animal and bird infestations, and human vandalism; to top it off, the home is located 160 feet from a branch of the San Andreas Fault.
The court has agreed with Jobs again and he has been given permission to apply for a demolition permit. Woodside officials will need time to review the permit application and said that Jobs would be required to save objects of historic interest from the mansion and turn them over to the city. In the mean time, Save Our Heritage is considering appealing this latest ruling but hopes that Jobs will accept a new offer from a couple who have proposed that he dismantle the mansion and rebuild it on their property two miles away.
Last year AppleInsider posted a photo gallery of the mansion.
[Mansion photo courtesy of Jonathan Haeber]
