Apple CEO Steve Jobs won his bid Tuesday night to demolish his 17,250 square foot house in Woodside, California in preparation to build a smaller residence on his property, according to the Mercury News. The ruling follows a multi-year battle by preservationists to stop the destruction of what they see as a historic landmark.
The house was originally built in 1925 for Daniel Jackling who made his fortune in copper mining. Mr. Jobs lived in the 14 room house in the 1980s, and then later used it as a rental property. It has been vacant and in disrepair for about ten years.
The organization successfully stopped the demolition in 2006 after claiming Mr. Jobs and the town of Woodside failed to produce documentation that showed the house would be more expensive to preserve than to replace. The filing that won town council approval on Tuesday included information showing that it would cost over US$13 million to renovate the property, but only $8.2 million to start over and build a new house.
Uphold Our Heritage, the group that sued to prevent the Jackling house demolition, didn't say whether or not it planned to sue again. Group president Clotilde Luce did, however, say "We already sued, and we won. I wish (the council) had paid attention to the law."