Billionaire Steve Jobs' new home plans.

[alfredo]

What kind of palace to his wealth will he build. Will it be an ultra modern attempt at the cover of Architectural Digest, or a temple dedicated to his "greatness."

http://gizmodo.com/5649909/the-house-that-steve-jobs-will-build

Well, it doesn't seem to be what you'd expect from a captain of industry.

If anything, the conceptual plans submitted to the Woodside Town Council depict more of a small, private retreat than any towering glass-and-steel tech chapel or totem of wealth. According to these initial designs, Jobs intends to populate the 6 acres with an assortment of indigenous flora; a simple three-car garage; a modest 5 bedroom home with plenty of windows and decks; a network of lighted stone walkways; and even a private vegetable garden. Everything is neat, tight, pragmatic, and in its place.

While the pared down modernist home will occupy the same basic location as the existing George Washington Smith-built manse, nothing will remain of the estate's former grandiosity. In lieu of the 8 bedroom/9.5 bathroom main residence, Jobs has opted instead for an unassuming living/working space that's half the size. No chauffeur's cottage, no cook's cottage, and no tennis courts. In fact, when compared something like Larry Ellison's $70 million feudal Japan themed estate located right up the road, Jobs' new digs seem downright monkish—if not Buffettian.

[Brickbat]

1. Only five bedrooms! Only $8.5 million!

Pish tosh! Full of utilitarian modesty! Full of Zen!

Jeez louise.

[Luciferous]

7. +1

[uncommon]

12. It's still extravagant, but far less extravagant than most billionaires would opt for.

I give him a little credit for cutting down the scale.

[Toucano]

20. That I can do.

But we can don't have to lose perspective in going so far as to call it "modest" or "monkish", regardless of the income of the owner.

Those words simply can't apply.

It's a swanky place. And it's scaled down from what one would expect.

[alfredo]

24. Compared to what we see from other ceo's , it is.

[Toucano]

27. "Modest" and "monastic" are not comparative words by themselves.

They have to be modified by, for example, "more modest" or "more monastic".

That home is not modest. It is not monastic.

It is more modest than one would expect, considering the wealth of its owner, and that's how it should be described.

There is not standard that exists that can describe a 5-bedroom, 8 million dollar home as "modest". The median home price for the western United States is 224,800 as of September 1, 2010. THAT is a modest home.

[alfredo]

29. The term "monkish" refers back to the Zen reference earlier. Jobs is Buddhist.

[Toucano]

31. No, actually, monkish when describing a home refers to the the way monks live.

Which is characterized by the denial of luxuries, spartan and utilitarian.

An 8 million dollar home is none of the above.

"Monkish" is not used to modify "Jobs", but (inaccurately) his "diggs".

[alfredo]

36. the writer is human, he's allowed a mistake from time to time.

[Stevenmarc]

28. .

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. For the percentage of his income, yes

this is the part that a lot of folks don't get.

A 200,000 home might sound very expensive to must of us since well, shit, it will take years to pay. In his case... this is what? 1% of his wealth?

[madokie]

2. Good on him

[Canuckistanian]

3. Who says minimalism has to be cheap?

Not Steve Jobs.

[Ron Green]

4. iHouse.

[alsame]

15. LOL! nt

[tridim]

5. They forgot to mention his underground lair.

[billlll]

6. Buffetian? whats his house like?

PS. If Jobs house cost eight million...
That cash wd take 200 homeless off the street for life.

Saving the lives of many of them.

Steve looks awful in the light of human reality.

[Hannah Bell]

9. the press generally focuses on the fact that buffett still lives in the house he bought in the 5os

or whenever (while neglecting to mention he owns other, more luxurious & expansive "vacation" homes that he's bought since)

[Touchdown]

11. I'm willing to bet that you'd hate him if he was a communist.

:eyes:

[Ikonoklast]

16. What about the value he has brought to the economy, in jobs, taxes, etc.?

And what did you eat for dinner last night?

[alfredo]

25. With two Olympic sized swimming pools, thorium nuclear reactor,

A life sized model of the great wall of China, and a massive collection of original all cloth Cabbage patch dolls made by a single mother from Kentucky.

[SpiralHawk]

8. I'll bet he won't be growing genetically mutant vegetables in his garden

...even though he and his RepubliCronies at Monsanto are shoving genetically mutant 'foodlike product' down the planetary gullet.

[Touchdown]

10. Psst. He's a Democrat.

I don't know what his dietary choices are. Nice try though.

[SpiralHawk]

34. Ah so

Pardon my Boehner.

[alfredo]

26. Al Gore is on the Apple Board. Him and Steve are old friends. Yes he's a Dem

And since Gore has joined the board, Apple has become greener, and has become more mindful of conditions at foreign plants. The MacMini is the greenest desktop computer on the market.

[gardenista]

43. His garden has been organic forever

And he and his wife have supported community garden groups and school gardens for many years. Their support has probably resulted in a thousand kids learning how to grow their own healthy, organic food.

[dembotoz]

13. wonder if he will have internet access

dial up?

[Dappleganger]

14. Since he hates buttons so much

it wouldn't surprise me if there are no light switches in the home and all the electrical plugs are hidden out of view.

Awhile ago I read somewhere that before he was married he lived in a fairly large-ish apartment but had practically no furniture--he gravitates toward the spartan.

And yes, he's a democrat albeit a very smug one.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

17. From looking at the floor plan, and because the home only has 5 bedrooms, I cannot for the life

of me figure out a price tag of $8.5 million unless he is being totally ripped off.

[formercia]

18. It's all in the materials.

It may be a simple layout,but I would guess it will use a lot of high-end materials in the construction.

[alfredo]

30. And high end craftsmen.

[diane in sf]

22. A large portion of the $8.5M is the property the house is sitting on in Woodside

[onehandle]

19. Republican Michael Dell's house is one of the largest in the world.

[Evasporque]

21. the land probably cost more....nt

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. Neat-o

[pgodbold]

32. He should just get a double wide. This house looks just like one. nt

[alfredo]

37. You can tell that from the floor plan?

[pgodbold]

38. Yeah .... looks like the two halves of a double wide mobile but I'm sure it's fabulous inside.

[alfredo]

40. I'd love to see a ground level rendering of the house.

[Odin2005]

33. Interesting!

[MichiganVote]

39. Oh thank goodness, a billionaire gets a new house-economy must be ok.

[alfredo]

41. Think of this as a jobs program for some lucky construction company.

[MichiganVote]

42. That is nothing more than economic chump change

[alfredo]

44. Not to those with the jobs.