Will anyone want Steve Jobs' old toilet? The town of Woodside is considering selling dozens of items from the Apple CEO's one-time home
- 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.
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.
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.