Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Steve Job To Get His Mac-Mansion

It looks like multi-billionaire Apple CEO Steve Jobs if finally going to get his new MacMansion.

It was recently reported that after a long slog and very public battle with architecture preservationists all obstacles preventing Steve Jobs from razing an historic mansion in Woodside, CA to make way for a sleek new residence have been removed.

The short of the real estate saga is that in 1984 Mister Jobs shelled out $2,000,000 to purchase a Spanish Colonial style residence designed by prominent California architect George Washington Smith. The house was built in 1925 for copper mining magnate Daniel Jackling and has always been known as the Jackling House. Although the tax man's records show the mansion measures just 5,500 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 poopers, most reports indicate the house has 30 rooms (some say 14 rooms), sprawls across about 17,000 square feet and includes a staggering 14 bedrooms and 13.5 poopers. We're not sure why the vast discrepancy in numbers nor do we have any idea which is a more accurate assessment of the home's size.

Anyhoo, Mister Jobs lived in the house with his family for about 10 years and later leased the property. It has sat vacant since the early naughts and due to conscious neglect the once beautiful house has become severely and depressingly dilapidated. The Apple Insider has amazing exterior and interior photos of the abandoned mansion taken a few years ago by photographer Jonathan Haeber.

In 2004 Mister Jobs was granted permission by the city Woodside to raze the residence but was immediately thwarted by architectural preservationists who sued to keep Mister Jobs from swinging the wrecking ball at the historic house. For the last 6 or 8 years Mister Jobs and the primary organization spearheading the campaign to save the house–Save Our Heritage–have been locked in a bitter battle. In July of 2010 after many law suits and more appeals Save Our Heritage withdrew their suit thereby allowing Mister Jobs to demolish the Jackling House in order to build his newer, smaller and more modern Barbie Dream House. While Your Mama sits on the same side of the fence as the architectural preservationists and thinks it's a terrific travesty to tear the house down, one must sometimes find a l consolation in just the tiniest shreds. Therefore, it should be noted that Mister Jobs' permit is contingent on a number of the architectural elements including an organ, flag pole and decorative tiles being removed and preserved.

Somehow the folks over at Gizmodo got copies of the plot plans and floor plans for the contemporary and shockingly modest home Mister and Missus Jobs have planned for the property. The long and lean house was, not surprisingly, designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the same architecture and interior design firm responsible for a good number of the Apple flagship stores as well as the colossal compound of Microsoft multi-billionaire Bill Gates in Bellevue, WA.

According to the floor plans, the Jobs' new house will measure just under 5,000 square feet and include a total of 5 bedrooms and, depending on how one counts, 2.5 or 3.5 poopers.
The rectilinear residence contains two off-set low-profile volumes. The two masses are joined by a service spine that holds all of the bathrooms, the entry, and other household services. The master bedroom, situated just off the living room, include a private covered patio, a not particularly large pooper with separate terlit cubicle, and a single walk in closet plus what appears to be another standard depth closet or built in cabinetry. The four family bedrooms, located as blessedly far from the master bedroom as can be, share a single and very efficient pooper divided into three areas: An entry area with a double vanity flanked by two smaller rooms each with a terlit and a shower. There does not appear to be a bathtub in the house, which is just fine by Your Mama who does not care to sit in a boiling vat of our out body filth.
The site plan reveals that in addition to the modest for a billionaire main house located in roughly the same spot as the soon to be demolished George Washington Smith Spanish Colonial, the Jobs estate will include a detached three car garage with storage space, a swimming pool and adjacent pool house and a third building that may or may not be a guest house or home office area. The various structures are connected via a series of pathways that meander through the mostly flat oak tree dotted property.

UPDATE: As it turns out, these are preliminary and date back to 2009 when they were submitted as part of an environmental impact report. That means that Jobs' new house may or may not be this size and shape. Also revealed is that Jobs owns the property next door where, one presumes, the extensive staff required to run his life will be housed.

Exterior image: Jonathan Haeber for Apple Insider
Floor plans: Gizmodo

20 comments:

brooklawn dr said...

I just don't understand why people buy historic homes with the sole intention of the structure's destruction.

Like that nin-com-poop Paul Allen who bought that historic home high above Beverly Hills, The Enchanted Hill" and then knocked it down.

Why not find a fresh piece of land and build your dream home and leave some history to the yougins to enjoy.

Anonymous said...

I sympathize with historic preservationists if the destruction of something impacts the public. If we demolished the White House it would impact everyone because it's a highly visible and iconic piece of architecture. But the Jackling house is neither an icon nor highly visible. One cannot actually see the house unless you're on the property, and it's not even visible from the main street (Mountain Home Road). There really is little or no public, educational, or enrichment benefit to preserving this house.

brooklawn dr - is it possible you don't live in the area? I do, and if you did you would know that this area has many historical buildings preserved (example: Filoli which features 16 acres of gardens on 654 acres of land; it was the "Dynasty" TV series mansion), and perhaps more importantly, thousands of acres of preserved land. As a result, there is not a whole lot of "fresh" land to find around here, any available land is incredibly expensive. Woodside is particularly desirable and convenient because it maintains the wide open wooded lands of country while being just minutes away from town. I don't blame Mr. Jobs for fighting this so hard.

Regarding the house - the modesty is hardly surprising coming from a man who wears pretty much the same outfit (black mock turtleneck, ripped jeans, New Balance sneakers) every single day. His company designs some of the most minimalist products on the market. One thing that Gizmodo seems to have missed though: it looks like there is a staircase off the main entryway. Perhaps a sublevel?

Anonymous said...

I like to think God gives disease and cancer, etc., to excessively lucky people to even things up a bit. I even think God might exist in order to make sure nobody gets everything. Hence that copper heiress living for years in a hospital and Brook Astor going gaga, etc.

Anonymous said...

I've seen the original house and it's far from an architectual treasure. It's a derivative mishmash of styles, none of them done well. I'm also all for preservation of deserving buildings but this ain't one of them. I think Mr. Jobs shows great restraint and class in not building a behemoth. And to answer Brooklawn: there aren't any/many vacant lots in Woodside. They've all been bought up by the Silicon Valley rich.

Anonymous said...

I hate the location of the powder room right next to the front door, with the toilet visible from the front door AND sharing a wall with the dining area. HATE both of those things. Also for a couple with three children who will presumably have grandchildren someday, I think a family room or den would have been a good idea. Finally, the master bedroom seems like it's too big. Otherwise, nice design.

Anonymous said...

"Preservationists" who are desperate to save this private home on a private lot in a very private town should pay to relocate it elsewhere, and open it for public tours.

lil' gay boy said...

I too am torn by the loss of a George Washington Smith structure, but applaud Jobs' restraint in avoiding an ego stroking monstrosity.

Let's face it, regardless of how much money he has, does he really need any more space than what is proposed?

From the photos on the AppleInsider site, it's obvious there are a number of architectural elements that would need to be preserved; and after living in the house for some time, it is not as if he's pulling an "Allen" and arbitrarily razing the structure. Its inaccessibility to the public, being well screened from the road, and rather incoherent composition, in concert with the withdrawal of the Save Our Heritage lawsuit all seem to point to a difficult, yet ultimately reasoned decision.

Lord knows the man could have afforded to have the house disassembled & moved, but what would be the point?

I'm curious to see just how green, sympathetic to site, and livable the new house might prove to be.

lil' gay boy said...

After after 25 years in IT, and at the risk of sounding like a techno-geek pedant, I find it quite illuminating how, using the same architectural firm, the two clients' residences reflect the products they shill.

Like Apple products (in general), the Jobs' Residence is sleek, sexy & practical. And like many (not all) Microsoft products, the Gates Residence is bloated & byzantine.

And no I am not a fan of one or the other (that's how I stayed in the business so long); I run both Snow Leopard & Windows 7 on my Mac.

Which leaves me to ask ––– who has the bigger dick?

;-)

Anonymous said...

You?

Anonymous said...

I bet in 75 years, Job's house will be under historic preservation (I understand, the architector is famous already). I just hope some new yahoo would not try to demolish and build a 15K sq ft behemoth in its place.

My verification work is "peesida". Not kidding.

lil' gay boy said...

I wish... or rather, BGD does.

;-(

micanichi said...

That's an exquisite floor plan. I can hardly wait to see the built project.

Carla In California said...

If memory serves me correctly, one cannot build a behemoth on Mountain Home Road due to local ordinances. (nothing bigger than 8,000 sq. ft. per dwelling)However, Job's best friend, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, was able to build mutiple buildings on his 40+ acre japanese compound along with a gigantic 'pool' to get around the restriction on house size.

I think Jobs is smart to not have wasted money dismantling and relocating the house. But I wonder how much he spent on litigation?

Muffin said...

Google. There, i think every major computer-related company has now been mentioned in some form or fashion. Yahoo!

Anonymous said...

It looks like the 3 bedrooms in the kids area have NO WINDOWS! Am I mistaken? I see windows in the play room, but not in any of the kids rooms even though all have an outside wall. Those will smell rank without some direct ventilation (I've had a teen in the house...you must have their space vented at all times or the hormone-sweat blend will kill you.)

anon said...

I have a question,

how is it that the founder of facebook is worth more than the founder of apple computer ?

the founder of apple computer has billions of more cash than the founder of facebook

Little Edie said...

That old house is stunning! And so well kept! Why all it needs is a little paint!

Laddi said...

it doesnt look like a mansion from that picture.But if that much money involved there must be somethin special.Maybe property is not that bad as the photography is.

davidsl said...

mr. jobs NEVER lived in the george washington smith house. he bought it saying he would preserve it, then turned around and proposed it's destruction.

having said that, the new place looks interesting. too bad it's for a douche.

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