If the house falls under the jurisdiction of San Mateo County and any committee which would take a "donation" from Mr. Jobs, I can as well guarantee now that the house will come down, and his new one will go up by the end of this year.
With the local economy suffering, and the San Mateo County famous for turning its head the other way when donations like parks, baseball fields, and land are donated to the county.
Even some of those people who managed to get things done without too much scrutiny in the near past, are now suffering since the fall of Lehman and Bear Stearns (losses in the hundreds of millions) and are suffering a lot more except for the off shore investments which are also being investigated more thoroughly than some old relic of a mansion which means absolutely NOTHING to the next generation which is going to have a rough time keeping up appearances in the old tradition of Woodside, which is primarily noveau riche and nonetheless capable of doing things others might call payoffs, to use the term politely.
There will be a lot more to worry about when people's taxes and honesty are scrutinized as I write and on till some of our more "prominent" citizens have to face the tax man and the headlines.
Job's house is as good as built.

Why should Jobs pay a bribe to get the County to do its job? Have we evolved into a third world country where greasing someone's palm is the only way to get things done? Never mind that the bribe does not benefit an individual and benefits the public as a whole, we should not put a surtax on the rich. They pay enough already. There should never be a quid-pro-quo for the county to do its job.

Mr. Jobs' medical leave of absence from Apple has generated a lot of financial media attention and speculation. Could this be a way for Mr. Jobs to subtly let people know he's not going away anytime soon?

I would like to see rules that require people to drive only old cars from the 50's and earier, like in Havana. The newer cars don't have that same classic style as the older models that I like. Also, I really miss those old-timey trains from the Civil War, with the classic 0-4-0 steam engines and the wooden cars with hand-operated brakes. I would like to require that only trains that were used in the Civil War be allowed to operate in California. And if they ever tear down that Jackin or whatever House, I will be devastated and will have to sue, even though I don't know what it looks like and wouldn't even know it existed if I hadn't read this story.

I totally agree with you, Jim. Especially in the land of Hippies and Greenies. They all want efficiency and earth friendly, but they are going to force Jobs to live in a 1920's house? ohhh...I guess he can pay for carbon offsets like their savior Algore and his gas guzzling water polluting Tennessee mansion.

Sansdoute is not exaggerating if you have lived in San Mateo County, San Francisco Pacific or Presidio Heights, or any of the more upscale
neighborhoods going back to the 50's. In fact, as a child growing up in Presidio Heights, it was de riguer for old families receive great "breaks" primarily for their REAL philanthropic efforts to keep the City by donating to museums, the arts, culture, and anything which was, indeed noble and for the "people".They NEVER saw building inspectors and when the true natives whose families went back generations, emerged an upper class with little snobbism but a lot of "newer" money which would be considered a pittance by Silicon Valley standards, but the donations were genuine and the city was unified and all of that generation was able to donate baseball parks, swimming pools for kids, to the police dept. who took it with both hands if it were a firetruck, or a week in Tahoe or sailing in the bay on 90 foot yachts.We NEVER had a problem putting in elevators in our mansions or adding a penthouse on an apartment. The real "gangsta" element was to be found in Atherton, Burlingame, Woodside, Atherton who greased palms with cash in a lower class way and that is when the building of "nouveau mansions" began and was just as boring as life could be except for the tennis tournaments in which I played or some dizzy aunt I would drop in to visit in her modest 5 bedroom home.
Today, the "greasing" goes on, but in the form of "donations" in exchange for favors from those people who "look the other way" and cover the San Mateo County for the few richer "philanthopists" and investment brokers, who are nothing more than land grabbers, developers and need favors from the city which are buried and these benefactors get a LOT of favors which the average citizen never knows about....To call oneself a "philanthropist" in print is so bloody vulgar that those who do would be considered "low life" and all in the name of making money. Why do people fool themselves so much?
Today, during this recession, those venture capitalists have lost a fortune because of the amount of empty grandiose apartments just sitting empty all the way past Palo Alto. Even Menlo Park had a nice ring to it once and it is now filled with these "philanthropists" who use the County in a way that only a government tax force is going to break up, and in the process, some of these "gilded gangsta types" may actually end up doing time. Meanwhile, those who are offended by someone like Jobs wanting to tear down 'history' should get a grip and realize that if he owns it, he can do what he feels like doing with it as he wishes.Let the conservationists who think of themselves as the "grande elitists" shell out the bucks and stop blaming him. HE (Jobs) is probably the most honest, and richest person in that entire area, and I say, go for it, and if they don't like it, it is fodder for them and their teas to call you all kinds of names and proclaim themselves the social matrons out to protect the area's history. No matter how one slices it, the hoi poloi of the communities, three generations ago, were as ordinary as the person working behind the counter in the pharmacies. A little GILDING does not elevate one's status; nor that of all the real estate people in their Jaguar convertibles who are dining out less and less as the restaurants close and they become ordinary....they will be "ordinary" for a long time. Go Mr. Jobs

I lived in Woodside for 30 years to the day!). I never heard of the Jackling House in all that time (1973-2003). If it was that important, I would have heard of it after that many years. Let Steve Jobs tear it down and rebuild!

If anyone wants to keep the house as is or renovate it,then he should buy it from Mr.Jobs. I think a new house would be lovely & would bring new tax revenue to Woodside as well !!