Woodside moves forward on Jobs' demo permit

Steve Jobs' 1925 mansion in Woodside, Calif.

(Credit: Jennifer Guevin/CNET (created with Microsoft Virtual Earth))

Updated at 12:15 p.m. PDT with confirmation and additional information from the Woodside town manager.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is one step closer to getting permission to tear down his dilapidated 1925 mansion in Woodside, Calif.

The Woodside Town Council voted almost unanimously Tuesday night to let Jobs move forward with his plans to demolish the 14-bedroom home to make room for a smaller, modern home on the same land.

The council for the small town--one of the world's wealthiest and home to other tech pioneers like Larry Ellison, Thomas Siebel, Andy Bechtolsheim, and Gordon Moore--voted 6-1 to instruct town staff to prepare a resolution approving a demolition permit for the 17,000 square-foot home, according to Town Manager Susan George. (First reported by the local paper The Daily News.) The staff is also preparing additions to the environmental impact report (EIR) and other documents to make the action legal under California law, George said.

The council is scheduled to revisit those items again on June 9. The one opposing vote belonged to Mayor Peter Mason, who said he was saddened by the dwindling number of historic buildings in the area, The Daily News wrote.

Jobs' plans have long been opposed by historic preservationists, who say the Spanish Colonial revival-style home built for copper mining magnate Daniel Jackling should be renovated or moved to another location.

Jobs bought the house in 1984 and hasn't lived in it for a decade. The council approved a similar demolition permit in 2004, but was sued over the decision by a group called Uphold Our Heritage, which argued the EIR the council used to justify its approval didn't show substantial evidence that restoration alternatives were cost-prohibitive. A trial court ruled in favor of the preservationists and an appeals court confirmed that decision in 2007, according to a town of Woodside staff report (PDF).

This time around, Jobs' has included detailed cost estimates that show it would cost $8.2 million to build Jobs' new 6,000-square-foot house, compared with $13.3 million to renovate the existing house, which has long been in a state of disrepair, as is evident in the shots (see below slideshow) taken in 2006 by "urban explorer" Jonathan Haeber.

The council on Tuesday also voted, George said, to include conditions in the demo permit documents that Jobs' would limit his new home to 10,000 square feet; agree to work in good faith with a man committed to preserving the historical elements of the house; and integrate the Jackling House's six-acre parcel with the three-acre adjacent parcel he also owns, to create one nine-acre parcel.

Images: The house Steve Jobs doesn't want to call home

[Vegaman_Dan]

Just because it's old, just because it was owned by someone signifcantly notable in that area doesn't make it *good*.

Based on the photographs, this place is a dump. And even if it was fully restored, it would look like a badly designed ugly dump-err, restored home. Recover the organ since that is nice, demolish the old house and either put the organ back in or donate it to a museum.

The house itself has got to go. It's lived on past its usefulness.

[viper396]

I couldn't agree with you more. These histrorical societies trying to preserve turds simply because it's old is a complete waste of resources..

[Vegaman_Dan]

@viper396:

Exactly. But think of our future generations- perhaps we should start preserving some of these auto dealership lots so that kids 100 years from now will know what a 'Ford' was way back then. Or maybe a strip mall or two. They could become historic.

"On this site in 2009, an AM/PM minimart was built that offered fuel at $3.00 a gallon, several hundred dollars less than today's prices."

[monkeyfun14]

@Vegaman

Well with how well Ford withstands through renovations and can quickly update their lines I don't think they are going anywhere.

[baconstang]

Agreed. Lose the home. It's not that special and not located where it 'adds' to the neighborhood. I'm guessing Jobs will build something that's not going to be too ugly.
Ford looks like it will survive. Chrysler is good as gone and GM is not far behind.

[lepton68]

I'm sure that the new house on the property will itself be unique and, someday, historic.

[monkeyfun14]

Anyone else notice the sky in the first pic looks like the background for OSX Leopard?

[Perry_Clease]

Yes, but the house looks like Vista :)

Seriously you are correct.

[ara_p]

I don't want to be overly critical, but I just don't get that image credit (to say nothing of the CNet logo on the image). It wasn't created WITH Microsoft Virtual Earth, it was lifted FROM Microsoft Virtual Earth. You can still see the street overlay on the top right corner! Why pretend there was any "creating" involved when it was really just a copy and paste operation?