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Cross ventilation in the kitchen? Hardly a problem, as it opens on three sides to the covered lanai, open deck and the Pacific Ocean beyond.
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The master bedroom displays a diversity of styles and tastes: Chinese chest, Island chaise, canopy bed and, of course, Tiare Cowan’s signature pineapple motif.
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Cozy elegance stays in touch with nature, via an expansive view of a lagoon and the Kuliouou Forest Reserve.
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Rick Cowan’s kitchen design is the stuff of dreams for any professional chef. At right, the special high-top counter is easy on an aching back.
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This sitting room is connected to the master bedroom via a walk-through closet. The short stairway at left leads to the guest bedrooms.
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The master suite’s walk-through closet, says the owner, is warm, inviting, works perfectly—and is his “favorite room of the house.”
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A good lawyer won’t represent herself in court and a surgeon shouldn’t self-operate. So what is a gifted interior designer to do when contemplating the redesign of his unique Island home?
He turns to Archipelago, Refined Island Interiors, and the brother-sister design team of Rick Cowan, CKD, and Tiare Noelani Cowan, CKD, Allied ASID.
“I could not have done it alone,” says owner Bobby Carpenter, of Residential Design Concepts, of the house he owns with retired Dr. Garrett Saikley, noted Honolulu Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs officer and master bridge player.
Carpenter had asked colleagues—from as far away as California—for recommendations. Through them, he found Archipelago.
The ensuing mix of diverse backgrounds and tastes is perfectly reflected in the home’s new decor: a distinctive blend of Island and East Coast, with a mix of Asian art and traditional elements. Eclectic, perhaps, but by no means clashing. Rather, the result is breathtaking and, yet, somehow both serene and comfortable.
Major reconstruction was done in the great room, where a simple redecoration became a complete start-over from little more than the foundation and garage. To say the result is one-of-a-kind is an understatement. “Tiare and I had a great experience working with Hawaii Architect’s Jim Matichuk and John
Sutton of Sutton Construction,” Rick says. “We really appreciated the roundtable discussions with them, in figuring out the design details—and the Sutton crew for making lots of those details possible.” The resulting design by Archipelago both reflects and complements the home’s exceptional setting.
And what a setting. The home is surrounded by water—the Pacific on one side and a lagoon on the other—at the end of a narrow causeway that ties it to the rest of Oahu. The view from the lanai and deck spans from Portlock to Diamond Head.
Although the house is barely visible to the public, the owners were determined that it blend with the surroundings. Lava and coral rock, copper trim and sconces, tongue-in-groove mahogany floorings used for ceilings under wide eaves covering a lanai that stretches halfway around the house—they all work.
Now back to the great room, where Archipelago’s redesign began. It is majestic, large enough to entertain many, yet cozy enough too, with seating clusters where groups of two to four can converse intimately. A stunning 4-foot-by-6-foot painting of a seated hula dancer wearing a haku lei and creamy holoku, by Big Island artist Edwin Kayton, dominates the great room. Diamond Head vistas, an open lanai and a flowing water feature seem to float in the air behind her. Giraffe chairs, Chinese cabinets, Tiffany glass chandeliers with an elephant theme from Maitland Smith, a piano and a dining table complete the room.
Leaving the great room, sliding doors open almost the entire width of the walls in three directions. Complete cross ventilation from high clerestory windows allows the breeze to be the usual cooling method, even in inclement weather. Although the house has central air conditioning, it is rarely needed. Solar water heating and high-efficiency lighting and appliances throughout the structure mark this as a thoroughly modern home, but one that harks back aesthetically to an earlier time.
Rick and Tiare Cowan’s design, with Carolyn Pace, also opens the kitchen to three sides, with counters topped in a beautiful greenish granite called Golden Lightning. Burled cherry wood cabinets by Studio Becker look as rich as leather. The kitchen is well equipped, with multiple sinks, ovens and dishwashers for a professional chef and staff to work comfortably when events are catered. The appliances, all Wolf and Sub-Zero, are hidden behind the seamless cherrywood facade.
Bedrooms were another matter. The former house had a half-dozen bedrooms, most of them smallish, with limited views. Archipelago’s design consolidated some of that space into fewer rooms (but with greater space for each). Now, there are two larger guest rooms, each with its own bath, and a master suite that includes two full baths and a walk-through closet.
“Honestly, the closet is my favorite room of the house,” Carpenter says. “It is so warm and inviting and it works perfectly.”
Archipelago took latticed Chinese screens from the owners’ personal collection and turned them into sliding doors that can close off the bedroom and closet from the fully equipped, dark wood-and-leather sitting room. This provides privacy but allows the breeze to move through freely.
Throughout the home, Archipelago’s signature style is complemented by the owners’ countless touches of individuality. Chest-high counters, for example, in the kitchen and one bath are simply a down-to-earth recognition that the standard height of a sink can be hard on an aching back.
In other places, the owners were inspired by Rick and Tiare’s personal tastes. The bathroom off the great room (with a shower in case the nearby office is needed as yet another guest room) has a pineapple theme—Tiare’s distinctive contribution. A beautiful mosaic tile bowl has become a sink supported by a hefty pineapple pedestal with pineapple-themed lights and trim.
And the owners couldn’t be more pleased. “When we first talked to the Cowans, I said to think of the Outrigger Canoe Club,” Saikley says. “Then, I stepped back and left it to Bobby and Archipelago. The result exceeds my fondest expectation.” �
