Inside Out
Vaulted ceilings and a minimalist decor lend a museum-like quality to this Kāhala home.
(All photos by Olivier Koning.)
Designing a home is more than just putting up walls and placing furniture; it’s about creating an experience. For guests, this may seem like a simple, straightforward process. But for homeowners (and the architects, designers and builders they work with), this experience is often a journey that is thoughtful and deeply personal.
For instance, when one Kāhala couple began envisioning a new home for themselves, they knew they wanted a space that catered to their love for entertaining and provided a multigenerational living solution for one of their mothers who lives with them. The couple also needed their home to serve as a secluded personal retreat where they could rest and recharge.
Working with designer Jamie Jackson, the couple’s friend and longtime collaborator, this creative team created a courtyard house that brings the outdoors in. Expansive floor-to-ceiling windows invite natural light and offer unobstructed views of the garden and pool deck. The result is a near-seamless transition from indoors to the outside.
To further imbue the space with a sense of place, indigenous plants became an integral part of the atmosphere. Not only in the courtyard but throughout the house in the form of large botanical images taken by local photographer Olivier Koning. These pictures of native plants are featured prominently throughout living areas, helping to anchor the home in Hawai‘i’s rich natural environment.
Texture also plays a starring role in the home. Jackson suggested vertical slats for the living room to add richness, along with Venetian plaster walls created by artist Betty Martin. Martin painted vivid acrylics, inspired by topographical photos taken by satellite of Mauna Kea, which hang on the walls. The furnishings — colorful throw pillows and plush swiveling chairs in lavender tones — add a playful element that keeps the mood light.
In the home’s great room, a 14-foot-long dining table is a gathering place that doubles as a striking centerpiece. With no legs in the middle, the table seems to defy physics. “It’s really quite a feat of engineering,” Jackson says. Overhead, more than 20 hand-blown glass pendant lights cast a warm reflective glow throughout this communal space. Nearby, one side of a double sofa looks out over the courtyard while the other side faces the entertainment system, perfect for cozy movie nights at home.
Floor-to-ceiling windows offer open views of the garden and pool while inviting natural light and blurring the lines between the inside and out.
Jackson strived to include works by different artists and artisans whenever possible. The gold and gray rug in the living room is a handwoven piece sustainably sourced by award-winning designer Emma Gardner and ethically produced in Nepal with Tibetan wool and Chinese silk. Christopher Reiner of Reiner Arts in Waimānalo built custom bookshelves and assorted cabinetry for the family room.
In the kitchen, a variety of tiles were sourced through Bella Pietra Design and Tile Warehouse, and specially configured into a unique stone mosaic wall. “Seven different colors of grout are mixed together to create a true ombré effect. The result was something the tilemakers had never done before,” says Jackson.
The owners, who go on trips around the world, wanted to incorporate many different aesthetics they fell in love with from their travels abroad — from miniature sculptures of Buddha watching over the kitchen to inviting tactile walls often found in Moroccan interior design. Even the bedroom linens are a nod to their experiences on the road. “The couple told me they never sleep better than at the Four Seasons,” Jackson says. “So naturally we ordered all the bedding from the Four Seasons for the bedrooms...”
Texture plays a starring role, with Venetian plaster walls in the living room, a unique tile mosaic in the kitchen, and bold images of local botanicals and native plants.
Outside in the garden, a dazzling mirror pool runs the length of the living room and serves as a counterbalance to the patio. The turquoise color was chosen to match the crystal waters off Waimānalo Beach: “Think of that blue you see when you’re driving from Hanauma Bay to Sandy Beach, which is different from anywhere else,” says Jackson.
To achieve this look, it (thankfully) wasn’t necessary to cover the bottom of the pool with garish blue tiles. “That’s not how light works,” Jackson says. Instead, translucent white glass tile at the bottom of the pool reflects up through the water to give the pool a turquoise glow. “It’s the look you get from the waters off white sand beaches.”
Although vaulted ceilings and minimalist decor lend a museum-like quality to this Kāhala home, it is a space which intimately reflects the tastes and personalities of the family that lives here. The home’s final look is a testament to the creativity that can emerge when owners and designer come together to create a thoughtful space like few others.
