The mansion Steve wants to tear down

This is an aerial photograph of the Jackling mansion in Woodside, CA from the 70's.



A close relative of mine bought it in the 70's and sold it to Steve in the 80's. They had bought the place in poor condition, fixed it up and lived there with their family. This photo looks early in the ownership as some of the things fixed up and added are not present. The pool at the top of the picture is on the large size and divided by property lines as part of the estate being chopped up, it was left intact but later filled in, so you could see the tile edging along the ground. The tennis courts stayed part of the estate. A smaller pool was added near the parking spaces on the left. The huge pipe organ exists in the upper right of the house as part of an addition. The upper left contains a library on the first floor, a spiral staircase and bedrooms on the second floor. The lower left is a separate guest house. The main portion of the house is a living area, then a large kitchen to the right. Fitting for Jackling the copper magnate, the mailbox was thick solid copper and was on a solid copper post that ran deep in the ground.

I stayed at the house once in the early 80's during a short vacation. It was a pretty cool place and in very nice condition when I went. It was modernized, the pipe organ functioned and was quite impressive. It's not insanely big but definitely a memorable experience. My memory is of large hills as a backdrop and a huge sweeping well manicured lawn.

Apparently Steve let the place get really run down and has been wanting to tear it down, but has run into various preservationist groups in the process. The town granted Steve a demolition permit, but in January a judge sided with preservationists and the house still stands.

The site is gorgeous, I can't blame him for wanting to live there. I am guessing it is no fun being stuck with the giant hulk of a house which is falling apart. Too bad it got to that point though.

What would you do?