Tropical Craftsman
North Kona Coast, Hawai’i
Concept
This sprawling home on the North Kona Coast was borne out of a shared affinity between architect and client for the artistry of California's Arts and Crafts movement.
Wood is celebrated as the noblest of materials through a palette that lives alongside stone and volcanic rock.
With an eye toward handcraft and the influence of nature, buildings are designed with the essence of the human spirit.
Mirror images of stacked lava stone recall the distinctive candi bentar gateways of Balinese temples. Just beyond, water cascades over tiered stone forms, signaling the entry to this Tropical Craftsman residence on the Big Island of Hawai'i.
One walks along a garden path, the sky barely visible through a dense canopy of areca palms. Peace lilies and red-stalked sealing wax palms add glimpses of color and varied form, framing a Song Dynasty stone tiger statue.
The solidity of wood is contrasted with retreating glass walls, placing early-20th-century building traditions in harmonious balance with this tropical setting. The pool's staggered outline interlaces with the home's living areas and lanais, reflecting shimmering light on Western red cedar shingle cladding. Just steps from Uluweuweu Bay alongside ancient anchialine ponds, architecture attempts to emulate the virtuosic maneuvers of nature itself.
The home was featured in the May 2009 issue of Architectural Digest.
Services
Architecture, Interior Architecture
Team
Jeffery Werner (Interior Design), VITA Inc (Landscape Architect), Mary E. Nichols, Joe Fletcher (Photography )