Appeal to block demolition of Steve Jobs' mansion dropped

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Preservationists who for years have fought Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs and prevented him from demolishing an aging California mansion have finally thrown in the towel.



Steve Jobs has owned the Jackling house since 1984, and has been trying to raze the building and replace it with something more modern since 2001. But for years the group Uphold Our Heritage has attempted to preserve the house as a historical landmark.



The dispute seemed to be coming to an end in March, when a judge upheld a demolition permit for Jobs that was first approved in May 2009. This week, The Alamanac noted that Uphold Our Heritage had dropped its appeal of the permit.



The organization made the decision after Jobs reportedly did not respond to a proposal from two nearby Woodside, Calif., residents who offered to dismantle the house and move it about two miles away. The attorney for Uphold Our Heritage said it was a "really great proposal" in which the two residents offered to pay "a very large part of the relocation and restoration costs."



Jason and Magalli Yoho planned to live in the mansion and open it to the public once a year, but they needed Jobs to contribute financially to the moving of the house.







The sprawling mansion has 30 rooms, 14 bedrooms and 13-and-a-half bathrooms. Last year, AppleInsider posted an extensive photo gallery of the home, which was discovered by a photographer with its gates, windows and doors wide open.



In 2008, Jobs attempted to prove that it would cost $5 million more to restore the mansion than build his new home. The home was built in 1929 for copper mining mogul Daniel Jackling. Jobs bought the home in 1984 and lived in it for 10 years before renting it out. It has remained vacant since 2000.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 85
    The mob has spoken. And silenced.
  • Reply 2 of 85
    OU(c)H?
  • Reply 3 of 85
    sparhawksparhawk Posts: 134member
    Somebody should write a script for the mansion that SJ is going to get torn down. Great setting for a horror flick?
  • Reply 4 of 85
    xgmanxgman Posts: 159member
    Why would anybody care?
  • Reply 5 of 85
    Yay! Down with the old Jackling dump!!!



    And up with the new iJackling Pad.
  • Reply 6 of 85
    justflybobjustflybob Posts: 1,337member
    Are



    We



    Done



    Yet?
  • Reply 7 of 85
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    The mob has spoken. And silenced.



    These are probably the same people who try to stop cell towers from being erected in SF too. So they are the ones responsible for poor reception in the valley.
  • Reply 8 of 85
    Quote:

    they needed Jobs to contribute financially to the moving of the house.



    \



    I know Jobs has a shitload of money, but I'm pretty sure his neighbors aren't hurting financially either.



    "I heard you're going to demolish your garden shed. Can you please give it to me? Oh, and help me pay for moving it."
  • Reply 9 of 85
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    These are probably the same people who try to stop cell towers from being erected in SF too. So they are the ones responsible for poor reception in the valley.



    Don't worry about that poor reception, ATT is on the job. I just got an update for my Mark The Spot app. It's going to have improved graphics to look better on a retina display. Just what you want to see when you drop a call. Rethink possible.
  • Reply 10 of 85
    Has this report got anything to do with Apple's new iYawn?







  • Reply 11 of 85
    Finally after 26 Years!! This is really ridiculous. And Historic come on!! it doesn't look like more than 50-80 Years old. I hope for steve, he finds a great architect who builds something fabulous that is worth the money.
  • Reply 12 of 85
    You know, there's a lot of style in the house as it is now...thats all.
  • Reply 13 of 85
    Most people with his kind of money would have simply bought something better a long time ago. I always thought of his legendary strong will as playing out as "I want it my way and I want it now." Steve's will also appears to have the endurance of one who laughs loudest and last.
  • Reply 14 of 85
    macnycmacnyc Posts: 342member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    These are probably the same people who try to stop cell towers from being erected in SF too. So they are the ones responsible for poor reception in the valley.



    Actually it was an irrational attempt by a woman to save her childhood home. There was no way that that house deserved landmark status. I am saying this as an architect who has great respect for older architecture.
  • Reply 15 of 85
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rabbit_Coach View Post


    Finally after 26 Years!! This is really ridiculous. And Historic come on!! it doesn't look like more than 50-80 Years old. I hope for steve, he finds a great architect who builds something fabulous that is worth the money.



    It did not take 26 years. That's only how long he owned the property; it was only a few years ago that he declared his intention to demolish it. And yes, the property was historic, as determined by a professional architectural historian. This fact was never in question. It was not in dispute. The entire business was a procedural matter based on compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.
  • Reply 16 of 85
    Steve really needs to get the dozers rolling!
  • Reply 17 of 85
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tods View Post


    It makes no difference to me whether it is historic or who says so. The government has no right to tell Steve Jobs or anyone else that he can't bulldoze a building he owns on the basis of it being historical. If bulldozing it would put asbestos into the air, fine, require him to contain the pollution. If bulldozing it could potentially harm someone else's life or property, fine. But to use government force to prevent him from bulldozing his own property because people who don't own it like to look at it is tyranny.



    Sorry, but your ideology does not trump reality. Historic preservation has been a Constitutionally approved use of local regulatory authority for a long time.
  • Reply 18 of 85
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss View Post


    Sorry, but your ideology does not trump reality. Historic preservation has been a Constitutionally approved use of local regulatory authority for a long time.



    Just because it is a reality doesn't make it right, that line of logic would then excuse the horrible violence that happens on a daily basis around the world. Look at Iran, Burma, etc...



    Good for Steve getting what he wants and what is rightfully his to do with.
  • Reply 19 of 85
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rabbit_Coach View Post


    Finally after 26 Years!! This is really ridiculous. And Historic come on!! it doesn't look like more than 50-80 Years old. I hope for steve, he finds a great architect who builds something fabulous that is worth the money.



    60-80 years *is* historic in California. Their "antique" stores are filled with things about that age. I visited a "historic" farmhouse that was only about 100 years old.
  • Reply 20 of 85
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ericinaz View Post


    Just because it is a reality doesn't make it right, that line of logic would then excuse the horrible violence that happens on a daily basis around the world. Look at Iran, Burma, etc...



    Good for Steve getting what he wants and what is rightfully his to do with.



    Nice analogy. Zoning regulations are now like repression and murder.



    Ah, the 19th century -- it would be such a great time to live in, so long as we didn't have to actually live in it.
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