Group Fights Steve Jobs to Save California Mansion
By Angela Serratore | Online Only | May 7, 2009
A decision is slated to appear next week on the fate of the Jackling House, a historic mansion in Woodside, Calif., owned by Apple magnate Steve Jobs.
Jobs, who purchased the house in 1984, has sought permission to demolish it after years of neglect. He wants to replace the 1926 Spanish Colonial Revival, designed by California architect George Washington Smith, with a smaller, more modern structure.
The house, built for copper baron Daniel Jackling, is considered a unique Smith work due to the way the architect used Jackling's history as a design influence. According to Brian Turner, Law Fellow at the National Trust's Western Office in San Francisco, the house is eligible for listing in the state register as both an architectural resource and a site associated with a historic or important person.
In 2004, the town of Woodside granted Jobs permission to demolish the house. Local preservationists created a new group, Uphold Our Heritage, to save the building. They filed a lawsuit against the town and Jobs, claiming that both had ignored provisions of California law that prohibit cultural landmarks from being destroyed if there are reasonable, feasible ways to preserve them, including relocation of the house to another site. (The Trust and the California Preservation Foundation filed amicus briefs supporting Uphold, which hopes to work with Jobs on a preservation solution.)
"Although relocation is the least desirable outcome, it is preferable to demolition by neglect or demolition," says Clotilde Luce, president of Uphold Our Heritage.
At the May 12 meeting, Jobs' legal team will present a another demolition permit, one they will argue addresses the objections deemed by a judge to be sufficient to prevent demolition in 2007. The meeting was originally scheduled for the April 28, but preservation advocates requested a continuance. Turner says that the National Trust's goal is to "explain to the town of Woodside that demolition of the Jackling House is not timely, and legally cannot be justified."
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Comments
Submitted by Lulu at: May 8, 2009
Please excuse the typo. That should be "expense".
Submitted by Lulu at: May 8, 2009
I hope they find a way to save this structure. When sights like this are allowed to fall by the wayside, pieces of our history are lost as well. Moving forward is fine, but not at the expence of our history.
Submitted by Brian at: May 7, 2009
Here's more info about this endangered structure: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/10/17/MNG379BCOC1.DTL