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Ocean View Contemporary Home

Kukui Ridge Residence

Kona, Big Island, HI

1992

(Riehm Owensby

Planners Architects)

7,455 SF Total​

4,850 SF Main House

665 SF Guest Suites

890 SF Covered Lanai

1,050 SF Garage

Materials:

stucco

horz. wood siding

lava rock

curved metal roofs

The site: We designed this speculative residence for a developer who wanted to attract the Japanese vacation home market, which was heavily investing in Hawaii in 1991. This was the first house of an 18-home development to be built on a steep slope north of Kailua Kona.

 

The client’s vision: The client investigated the desires of the Japanese buyer market in the Kona area and contrasted it against what was being offered. His resulting vision was to develop a community for the Japanese buyer. He wanted the site to be heavily landscaped with a Japanese influence. Each home was to have a flex-space capable of being used as a home office, guest suite or a maid’s / nanny’s quarters to be determined and fitted out after purchase.

 

The resulting design: The site's steep slope required entering the home on the upper level which contained the master bedroom suite, kitchen, dining and living room. The lower level comprises secondary bedrooms, and the family room, all with ocean views.

Entry into the house was a path descending from the entry drive, through the public area of the home, into the living room. This path offered a multiplicity of visual experiences, including a wrap-around view of a sunken Palm courtyard and views of the home’s public spaces, which gradually unfold as you move through the space. The path ends with the living room and commanding views of the Pacific Ocean.

 

The guest suite, which has its own separate entry stairway from the driveway, is located off a secondary stairway at an intermediate level creating separate and private entry inside the house. This space was designed to also function as a home office or maid’s quarters.

 

Unfortunately, the house and development were never built. In late 1991, the Japanese real estate and Nikkei stock markets crashed, virtually halting all Japanese residential investment in Hawaii.

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Designed when I was a partner at Riehm Owensby Planners Architects, Kailua - Kona, Hawaii.

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