Woodside may sell the toilet, sink and other items from Steve Jobs’ one-time home

Ben
Stanfield / Flickr

• Next week, the Town of Woodside will discuss what to do
  with some of the housing fixtures salvaged from a former home
  of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
• Jobs bought the Jackling Estate in 1984 and lived there
  for a decade. He intended to tear down the home and
  rebuild but because of litigation the house wasn’t destroyed
  until shortly before his death.
• Among the 150 items now in the town’s possession are a
  silver-plated ice-tea spoon, a thermostat (circa 1925), and a
  chandelier. In all, the items have been appraised at
  $30,285. 

Steve Jobs, cofounder and CEO
of Apple, could boast legions of faithful fans and disciples
across the globe, referred to frequently as “Apple
fan boys.”

Will any of them be willing to bid on their guru’s old toilet,
wall sconces, door handles, chandelier or silver-plated ice-tea
spoon? Those are just a few of the items salvaged by the Town of
Woodside, Calif. from Jobs’ former home there, known as the
Jackling Estate. 

The Town of Woodside

Jobs bought the home in 1984 and lived there a decade before
renting it out. He intended to tear it down and rebuild on the
land, but a group of local
preservationists launched a court fight to save
the Spanish Colonial style mansion which was built in 1925 for a
copper-mining magnate. 

While the case made it way through the courts, the famously
obstinate Jobs let the house sit abandoned for years, rotting
from neglect and exposure to the natural elements.

Eventually, Job won the right to demolish the home but that
didn’t occur until eight months before he died in October 2011.
 

The city of Woodside took possession of some of 150 items from
the home before it was destroyed. The town says on its web site
that the items have been appraised at $30,285.

A
fireplace mantle stone that came from Steve Jobs former home in
Woodside.
The Town of
Woodside

Most of the items appear to have already been part of the home at
the time Jobs purchased it. 

Indeed, the toilet may have graced Jobs’ derriere, but it’s not
exactly an example of the Jobs’ aesthetic, which favors sleek and
simple designs. To judge by the picture featured on the town’s
website, the ceramic lavatory dates back to the 1920s and looks
more antique than airy. The site estimates its marketable cash
value at $100. 

A better value may be the brass, 8-inch thermostat, which dates
back to 1925 and is described as being in good condition, albeit
“functionally obsolete.” Its $5 marketable value is a small price
to pay for an item that, for all anyone knows, may have inspired
the inventor of the iPhone to explore and re-imagine basic
elements of consumer product design. 

According to Kevin Bryant, Woodside’s town manager, a sale of the
items is just one of the possibilities the town council is
considering.
The council might also decide  to offer the
“artifacts” to the owners of a nearby home, which is the
“only remaining home in Woodside designed by George Washington
Smith,” the architect of the Jackling Estate.

Those interested in arguing for a sale, can appear at the council
meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday  at at 7:30
p.m PT in Independence Hall, located at 2955
Woodside Road, Woodside, CA.