May have bought house in the Sun Valley region

Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs' widow, and her family have temporarily moved out of the Palo Alto home they shared with the Apple co-founder while major renovations take place. Powell Jobs, who is an accomplished businesswoman in her own right, will also appear at the same Allen & Co. private business retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho that Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted at yesterday. A report in the New York Post claims Powell Jobs has bought a house in the Sun Valley region.

The modest, middle class home in Palo Alto where Jobs lived is having a new roof put on, with some modifications from the original roof, possibly to create additional space, reports Cult of Mac (via Forbes). The house has been entirely fenced off and is currently inaccessible.

It's not known if either Cook or Powell Jobs spoke at the conference, which is sponsored by the investment firm Allan & Company and serves as a retreat for various business leaders to speak and listen to other speakers. Previous guests have included Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg and even Steve Jobs a number of years ago. Cook was advertised to appear at the conference but was not expected by many. Powell Jobs, who is co-founder and president of the board of educational improvement organization College Track and was also co-founder of natural-foods company Terravera, has focused on education, the arts and human rights causes focused on women in recent years.

The report that Powell Jobs has bought a home in Idaho near where the conference is being held may be speculative, but is said to be a $3 million-plus, three-bedroom double A-frame house. It could also be that Powell Jobs is leasing or renting the house during the period that the Palo Alto home is being renovated, which could take months.

MacWorld points out the irony that Jobs' Palo Alto home is getting renovation work done while construction has still not started on the land he fought for years to clear and build his dream home. Job purchased a six-acre lot in Woodside, Calif. in 1984 and fought for decades to demolish the existing house that was there, known as Jacklin House. In 2010 Jobs finally won clearance to remove the house and did so in February of 2011. It is unknown if Powell Jobs has any plans to continue Jobs' plans for the property. [via Forbes, with photos from Forbes and Cult of Mac]

by MacNN Staff