VentureBeat:
Steve Jobs hated the historic Jackling House that he bought in 1984 so much that he spent a tremendous amount of time and energy in his final years trying to have the Woodside mansion torn down.
After a decade of controversy and legal fights with local preservation groups, Jobs won, and the 17,250-square-foot building was demolished in February 2011 to make way for a new home.
Jobs’ determination to raze the house was particularly notable because he died from pancreatic cancer just eight months after the demolition. While the extent of his health problems were not well known when the Jackling House was being bulldozed, in retrospect, Jobs must have realized it was unlikely he would live to see anything else built on that land.
So the demolition of the house was one of the last victories of Jobs’ life. In the coming years it will be replaced by a new 15,000 square foot estate proposed by his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, and moving toward approval by the Town of Woodside.
But it wasn’t quite the end of the story for the Jackling House.
Fascinating story, though I could have done without this bit:
a power struggle caused by the failure of the Mac. He then started NeXT, another computer company that largely failed
It’s all perception.
“…He then started NeXT, another computer company that largely failed…” “…at becoming the most successful tech company in the world without changing it’s name.”
“a power struggle caused by the failure of the Mac. He then started NeXT, another computer company that largely failed” — the writer is trolling.
The “Mac” or Macintosh is still around and doing OK. Also, NeXT is the basis for iOS, OSX and most of Apple’s success … and all those “failures” created all those successes. I think I’m preaching to the choir.
This is one of those times I’m glad The Loop links to the article, but I don’t feel a need to click through.
it was a lovely mansion, it’s a shame Jobs went the “demolition by neglect” route. we see that all the time in New Orleans — owners who intentionally let a property rot for so long, in the hopes of being able to eventually say “Look! It’s an eyesore! Let me tear it down and build something new…” (and always for a profit)
I would imagine Steve just likes things a certain way and wanted to do something else with the property… sometimes the HOAs are pure concentrated evil. Other times its the county!