Steve Jobs was such a perfectionist that, for years, he didn’t fill his house with furniture simply because he couldn’t find items that measured up to his high standards.
Which is why it is oddly fitting that only now — approaching five years after the former Apple CEO’s death — is work finally set to begin on building Steve Jobs’ dream family house on land he bought way back in 1984.
Photo: Town of Woodside
Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, is on track to win final approval from town officials in the upscale Woodside area of Silicon Valley to build the ambitious project. In doing so, she is continuing a long-term mission Steve pursued during the last decade of his life. He spent seven years fighting legal battles for the right to tear down a 17,250-square-foot mansion that stood on the land.
Photo: Jonathan Haeber, Bearings
He was eventually granted permission to do so in February 2011, although Jobs’ pancreatic cancer meant the project never got any further than the demolition of the old 14-room house, with no new plans submitted.
So what will the Steve Jobs house look like?
The forthcoming Jobs family estate will total an impressive 15,689 square feet, and feature a large agricultural outdoor area of more than 9 acres for raising livestock, pressing olive oil, making wine and growing vegetables.
Plans describe a 3,706-square-foot main house, external yoga studio, sauna building, hot tub, plunge pool, swimming pool, two guest houses called the “Orchard House” and “Vineyard House,” wine press building, olive press building, large garden shed and barn.
There are also a few very Jobsian touches, such as the neat sliding glass doors shown below, which play on the thinly divided indoor/outdoor aesthetic that recalls architect Joseph Eichler, who had a big impact on Steve Jobs.
Neighbors will include SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, Intuit co-founder Scott Cook and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
Once construction starts, the entire project should take 596 days to come to fruition.
Source: VentureBeat
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
9 responses to “Laurene Powell Jobs is building Steve’s dream home”
Yeah, well, good for her, I guess.
We all have high standards. Difference is, us regular folk have to settle for what’s out there and what we can afford. We can’t go intimidating and bullying employees and vendors to meet our high standards and get all the accolades.
Still waiting to hear about something philanthropic. Anything. You know, giving back when you’ve made it big. Zuckerberg, Gates, and even Ellison showed an incredible commitment. From Jobs in his entire career…crickets…
I keep hoping someday Jobs could redeem himself by having his widow reveal that he’s left billions to children’s cancer research or education or feeding the world.
why? Why should people feel compelled to give money to anyone for any reason? Because “everyone else is doing it”? Don’t buy Apple products if you dont like what they do with THIER money. How much have you given to anyone or thing? how much do you make? I think you should give your money to me because I need a house! Stop Counting other peoples money.
Of course, nobody’s *obligated* to be a philanthropist, but to use your word they do feel *compelled* to donate because they’ve made billions and have achieved incredible success financially and want to give back as thanks for how for fortunate they have been.
The idea is that you can’t possibly spend all your money, no matter how many ginormous mansions and jet planes and yachts you buy. So why not donate it and help make the world a better place?
Jobs unfortunately had a terrible disease. His fame and success got him to the top of the liver transplant list, skipping ahead of other “less famous” people who needed one. He got the best care possible. You’d think he would have donated to transplant research and pancreatic cancer research.
So sure, hey, you don’t HAVE to give back. It’s all his big bucks and his wife can do what she wants. But don’t go on making movies and talking about how great this guy was. He was great at certain things but in the humanity department…
She handed out iPod Shuffles to all the workers who built that godawful boat. I am sure the crew gets an iTunes gift card for tips. Happy now?
A Business Insider piece calls her “a generous philanthropist” with a listing of some of the organizations she supports or founded. So she does, but she doesn’t go around saying “HEY LOOK, I DONATED A BUNCH OF MONEY.” I volunteer for a small nonprofit, and I can tell you that it’s more pleasurable to work with donors who don’t care about trumpeting their gifts than those who want their name plastered all over the place.
Oh wow, you need to go do some research. The great thing about Jobs was that he was involved in philanthropy and chose to keep it quiet. His view was that doing charity work and then shouting about it demeaned the act itself. Charity is a personal and private thing, not a marketing tool.
Hmmm, not what I’ve heard. Things I’ve read include quotes from people close to him saying he didn’t believe in donating or in charity.
Nobody wants arrogance or self-promotion, but making certain things public can help your cause. For example, if Bill Gates didn’t announce his work or his monetary gifts, other rich execs probably wouldn’t have taken his lead. I hated Gates, but when I found out the incredible work and his generosity I was floored. It changed my view of him. Zuckerberg is also carrying that forward. Let’s face it – famous people can drive a cause very effectively. So yeah, you’re marketing, but your marketing your cause.
There’s a difference between “shouting about it” and making a public announcement that highlights the CAUSE and the purpose. I think Gates did it in a very classy way.
Like others mentioned… he DID give plenty but kept it secret…. so secret indeed that he did not even want to involve the IRS so he did not report it as donations and did not get any tax deductions. There are plenty of reports from organizations that indeed received and keep receiving from his estate.
Do remember though that people change as we grow old. Before Bill Gates was married his contributions (per percentage) were not even as close. A spouse can make a huge difference in this department. Same thing with Steve Jobs, his view on philanthropy probably totally changed after a few years of marriage.
I’ve been married for over 20 years, my wife has made me change my views on MANY things… and always for the better.
JLO87 A very intelligent explanation. Thank you.