Steve Jobs at Home

Steve Jobs grew up in a lower-middle class suburban neighborhood in the 1960s. When he was a young adult, in the early 1970s, he delved into eastern mysticism, Zen Buddhism, and hippie ideals. Then he started Apple and became a millionaire at 23, an icon of entrepreneurialism and capitalism. It is not hard to picture how big of a shock to his values this new status must have created. In his late 20s, while he was still single, Steve Jobs was not living the life of a typical young nouveau riche.

He bought a large house in Los Gatos, not far from his parents' and Apple, which he almost didn't furnish (the famous 1982 Diana Walker picture in his living room was taken in that house) He kept his peculiar food habits, staying a vegan and fasting for spa few weeks - although he sometimes allowed himself some fish and even meat once in a while. And he worked. He worked really, really hard, and spent most of his waking hours at Apple — including weekends. He didn't have many friends a the time, although he socialized quite a bit, including in New York where he purchased a luxurious apartment in the San Remo Towers. (Diane Keaton once told the story of how he tried to woo her when she was living there).
In 1984, Jobs bought the Jacking mansion in Woodside and moved in a few months later. His life remained pretty much the same, the mansion remaining unfurnished, apart from the kitchen where a young couple he had hired prepared him his vegan meals. Steve's longtime girlfriend, Tina Redse, whom he met during that year, hated staying at the empty house. She kept her house in Palo Alto, which was also a refuge when she and Steve would have one of their frequent fights. Finally, in the summer of 1989, he asked her to marry him, and she declined because it would "drive her crazy".