Nuuanu Springs: Fed by a natural spring, the four-level fishpond doesn’t need a pump or filter to keep clean. At every twilight, algae that has accumulated during the course of the day rises to the surface and is washed away.
Residential real estate developer and general contractor Harry Kim has built hundreds of houses throughout his career. Not surprisingly, when it came time to build his own place, he knew exactly what he wanted.
Kim’s new homestead would feature a spacious master suite, as well as bedrooms and separate bathrooms for three of the six Kim children who were still living with Harry and wife Angie at the time. The home would have a formal dining room that could seat 12, and a big, airy kitchen, able to feed and accommodate large crowds.
Kim also wanted to start doing most of his work from home. Therefore, his new house needed office space—and not only for him, but for some staff as well.
Adding to the scope and complexity of the project were the unique characteristics of the Nuuanu property where Kim would build. The lot, measuring nearly 30,000 square feet, was certainly big enough to accommodate the 6,000-square-foot house, but almost half of the land was unusable, occupied by a rocky slope. To maximize privacy, Kim wanted the structure set as far back from the street as possible. In other words, he would literally have to move a mountain (or at least a small part of one) to build his home.
Grand Opening: The foyer and formal living room feature soaring 22–foot ceilings, dramatic picture windows and elegant finishes.
Because of the extensive excavation required, it took nearly eight months for work crews to prepare the site for construction. In the end, they removed between 250 and 300 cubic yards of super-hard basalt rock, carving out a 17,000-square-foot flag lot in the process. With more than enough space for his house, he sold the street-facing portion of his property to another homeowner. After the area was finally cleared, it would take nearly two additional years to complete construction.
It would be worth the wait.
“This is the second home that I’ve built for myself, and it taught me more about what my clients go through during the building process than just about anything else I’ve done,” Kim says.
To Maximize privacy, Kim wanted the structure set as far back from the street as possible. In other words, he would literally have to move a mountain (or at least a small part of one) to build his home.
The fully appointed kitchen has wide pass-through areas to oblige large gatherings and heavy foot traffic.
“When you’re building a high-end custom home, it’s so easy to lose your way. You have to look at everything: every application, every material, and sort through it all. Hopefully, you can find somebody who can guide you and keep you on track. I’ve been applying that lesson ever since.”
Kim tells his clients, the first and most important decision they have to make when building a home is what style of house they want. High-end custom homes have a particular chemistry and flow to them, so selecting a specific style and sticking with it throughout the design and construction makes the entire process easier. It also yields a better result: a more aesthetically coherent and cost-effective home.
For their house, Harry and Angie chose a traditional style to reflect the look and feel of Nuuanu of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Besides the aforementioned formal dining room and large kitchen, the home features a grand living room with a soaring 22-foot ceiling, vast picture windows and a wide marble staircase. The interior finishes are just as impressive: Elaborate crown molding accentuates the home’s elegant lines, Italian chandeliers and intricately detailed wall sconces cast delicate light and Australian koa warms the floors below.
Bath and Beyond: The master bath faces the most private corner of the lot. Its bathtub overlooks the verdant hillside.
Upstairs, the bedrooms are open and airy, especially the master suite, which overlooks the home’s verdant garden and tranquil fishponds. Since the home is situated in the far corner of the lot, with a mountain on one side and Nuuanu Stream on the other, there are few, if any, window coverings throughout the home. The result is a near-seamless connection to the outdoors—even though the home’s windows are usually shut tight and the interiors are climate-controlled 24 hours a day.
Downstairs in the finished basement are the laundry room, sauna and fully equipped satellite office, where Kim’s employees can prepare for a meeting in the boss’s third-floor office. To get there, they can take the home’s elevator.
Indoor–Outdoor: A patio off the main floor creates easy access to the garden and tranquil fishpond, only steps away.
Arguably, the house’s most unique feature is the four-tiered fishpond. The pond slowly steps down the hillside and is filled with fat and happy koi. Since it is fed by a natural artesian spring uncovered during excavation, the pond has no pumps or filters. It may be Honolulu’s only no-maintenance koi pond. Algae that forms during the heat of the day rises to the surface in the late afternoon and is washed away by twilight. The water, of course, is crystal clear.
“We first thought we had damaged a Board of Water Supply pipe during excavation. But they sent someone out here to test the water and it wasn’t theirs,” Kim says. “He said it was probably better than the water we get from our pipes.”
By the time construction was completed four years ago, the last of the Kim children had left home, either attending college on the Mainland or living on their own. But though their new nest is now an empty one, Harry and Angie are perfectly happy and comfortable in their spacious pad.
“I spend most of my time here. I can look out at the mountains and all the greenery and feel like I’m out in the country,” Kim says, looking out of his office window. “It’s a big home for just two people, but it feels right to me.
“We put in a lot of time planning and going over every detail,” he adds. “I do the same for my clients, educating them about materials and applications, so they can make an informed choice. Knowledge is power. So, in the end, there are less regrets and they can take more pride in what they helped build.”
