An agreement that would let Apple CEO Steve Jobs build the home of his dreams and save the historic mansion that occupies his favored site is ready to be signed, an attorney for Jobs and the Palo Alto-based angel investor who wants the place told the Woodside Town Council on Tuesday.
The contract between Jobs and Gordon Smythe of Propel Partners would allow Smythe to dismantle the Jackling House on Mountain Home Road and reassemble it on another piece of property, which has yet to be identified. The council agreed Tuesday that it’s the best preservation-oriented solution to emerge in the legal tussle over the 84-year-old home built for copper magnate Daniel C. Jackling.
“It’s too bad an owner didn’t come along who actually wanted the house,” said council member Carroll Ann Hodges, who noted her preference for restoring the secluded estate where it stands. “It seems to me Mr. Smythe has offered a reasonable compromise.”
The Town Council still needs to sign off on the agreement, and on Tuesday voted 5-2 to grant Jobs a permit to demolish the 17,250-square-foot Spanish Revival mansion on the condition that he and Smythe sign the contract first. Mayor Peter Mason and council member David Burow cast the dissenting votes.
A copy of the agreement was not available for review Tuesday.
The council also voted 6-1 Tuesday to approve a final environmental impact report amended to include cost estimates that show restoring the mansion, as called for by local preservationist group Uphold Our Heritage, would be economically infeasible when compared to the cost of constructing a new home on the site.
Smythe told the council he’s had little luck finding a site to reassemble the Jackling House, which he intends to use as a personal residence for his wife and three young children.
