Jackling House

Mansion in California, US

The Jackling House was a mansion in Woodside, California, designed and built for copper mining magnate Daniel Cowan Jackling and his family by noted California architect George Washington Smith in 1925. Though it was considered a historic home, it was demolished in 2011 by its last owner, Steve Jobs. Its demolition followed a protracted court battle during which Jobs stated his intentions to build a smaller, contemporary styled home on the site, though he died before any plans could be realized. Daniel Jackling was a copper mining baron, and the estate represented his aesthetic values, wealth, and family needs. It contained a built in residence pipe organ, originally constructed by the Aeolian Company and later enlarged by George Kilgen and Sons. George Washington Smith integrated the residence and landscaped gardens with a large traditional courtyard, open air balconies, and many indoor outdoor sightline and access connections. Details about the house and its contents when Jackling lived there, including the organ, are in his collected papers in the Stanford University Library. After Jackling's wife Virginia died in 1957, the home was sold in 1958 and its surrounding land – nearly  – was subdivided. The house had three other owners before its last one bought the property, which had a list price of $3.5 million, in 1984.

In 1984 Steve Jobs purchased the Jackling House and estate, and resided there for a decade. After that, he leased it out for several years until 2000 when he stopped maintaining the house, allowing exposure to the weather to degrade it. In 2004, Jobs received permission from the town of Woodside to demolish the house in order to build a smaller, contemporary styled one.

In January 2006, Superior Court Judge Marie Weiner agreed with "Uphold Our Heritage" and held that Jobs could not tear the house down. Jobs appealed to the State Court of Appeals, and in January 2007, that Court unanimously confirmed the lower court ruling. Jobs' attorney asked for an appeal but in April 2007, the Supreme Court of California refused to hear it. In 2008, Jobs submitted a renewed permit application with updated estimates. The Woodside Town Council granted the permit a year later, in May 2009, with the condition that Jobs must allow the house to be disassembled and moved elsewhere. In February 2010, Magalli and Jason Yoho offered to move the mansion to their five acre lot in Woodside. Magalli Yoho reported in March that the house resembled a Spanish Colonial Revival mansion she lived in as a child in Ica, Peru. She said, "This house is just a good house for our family." On April 29, 2010, "Uphold Our Heritage" appealed the March court decision. The appeal put an "automatic stay" on the issuance of demolition permits. and the entire residence was demolished the next month. Nothing was built on the site, and Jobs died later that year on October 5, 2011, of pancreatic cancer. Laurene Powell Jobs proposed a new building for the site in 2016. The Woodside History Museum has an exhibit of furniture, maps, photographs, etc. from the Jackling House. The town of Woodside collected 150 items from the home before it was destroyed. As of October 2018, the items were reportedly appraised at over $30,000. At a meeting that month, the town council approved a plan to offer the items – including a silver plated teaspoon, a chandelier, wall sconces, door handles, a flagpole, and a 1920s thermostat and toilet – in sequence to the town first, and then to the owners of another Smith designed home next door. After that, the items would be offered to the museum of the University of California, Santa Barbara, which has additional Smith designs nearby. Remaining items would then be made available to the public via silent auction before being "sent to salvage".