The Waimanalo house,with the Koolau mountains close by, has less than 1,000 square feet under the roof but a seemingly infinite amount of outdoor space.

 The Waimanalo property is as rare and unlikely as it is beautiful: a large oceanfront lot with even larger views occupied by a newly renovated, three-bedroom, two-bath cottage with only 950-square feet of living area.

The cozy home and its expansive, football field-size yard defy the conventional rules of high-end Hawaii real estate, which call for a maximum house to maximize property value. But when standing on the home’s deck with views of both the awesome Koolau across the highway and the azure waters of the Windward Coast beyond the beach, another important rule of thumb comes to mind: Less is more.

“I thought that I wanted to live in Kahala, but it doesn’t have anywhere near the beauty that this place has,” says the homeowner, as he alternately gazes at his mauka and makai views. “I love Old Hawaii, and this is the way it used to be.”

Although the homeowner wasn’t born or raised here, he knows the place well, having first visited the Islands as a 4-year-old with his parents. The family made its voyage to Hawaii aboard the famous ocean liner, S.S. Lurline, and stayed at Waikiki’s newest and tallest hotel at the time, The Surfrider.

That family vacation more than 50 years ago is still a cherished memory for the homeowner, who estimates that he has visited Hawaii maybe 1,000 times since. The trip may have been on his mind three years ago when he bought his Waimanalo property, which was then occupied by two homes, a 2,000 square-foot main house and a pocket-size guest cottage. Both homes were old and in severe disrepair.

Little House on the Prairie: A newly planted monkeypod tree (foreground) will eventually devleop a wide, thick canopy, which will provide plenty of shade and screening from the nearby highway.

With a purchase price of $3 million, the redevelopment of the property seemed like a no-brainer­—demolish the homes, which were uninhabitable, and build a larger, fully outfitted house, something that could complement the property’s multimillion dollar views. But the homeowner, a building contractor himself, saw that the cottage, with more charm than houses several times its size, was worth saving. As a lover of Hawaii, he also realized that by restoring the more than 50-year-old home, he wasn’t just saving a house. He was preserving a way of life.

Three months and $300,000 later, the cottage was not only remodeled, but reborn. It now has new everything, from bamboo floors to a metal roof, copper gutters and everything in between.

“What else do you need?” asks the homeowner, standing in his cozy kitchen. “Every room is filled with light and has a view. Everyday, I swim out to the reef and see turtles and thousands of tropical fish. You don’t need anything more.”

The home’s quaint kamaaina style was carried over to the property’s vast outdoors. The
homeowner wanted an Old Hawaii that was simple, elegant and maybe even cozy, featuring lush big-leafed greenery with a sprinkling of tropical flowers. The yard would be big but quiet, not trying to compete with the mountains and the ocean for attention. However, the first requirement of the new landscape was practical. It needed to provide screening from the busy highway nearby.

“Originally, the property was very exposed. From the highway, you could see just about everything,” says landscaper Steve Dewald, who was hired to design and install the new yard. “The homeowners put in a fence for security, and then we tried to make it go away with plant material.”

To provide a green screen along the fence line, Dewald planted areca palms, which grow high and thick. He also installed banana plants in well-placed corners of the property. The plants’ broad leaves provide not only well-needed screening but also plenty of Old Hawaii charm. Within this lush perimeter, Dewald added more Island favorites such as red caribea heliconia, assorted gingers, bird of paradise, kupukupu and lauae ferns as well as very large-leaf plants such as monstera and ape, which are hard to find in local landscapes today.

Surf and Turf: A majority of the property's acerage is devoted to the wide expansive lawn, which leads to the windswept beach and its crystal-clear waters.

Inside the fence, in the middle of the front yard, Dewald planted a monkeypod tree, whose canopy will eventually encompass a majority of the front area, providing plenty of privacy and serenity. Very few Hawaii homeowners plant monkeypods in their yards anymore. The beautiful but enormous trees are usually found in parks, other public areas, or old homes.
Out back, Dewald installed additional arecas along the sides of the property along with groupings of hybrid bamboo, a new variety, with a noninvasive root system and growing pattern. Within the protective line of palms and bamboo, the landscaper planted more gingers and heliconias as well as several plumeria saplings, which the homeowner had gotten as gifts from friends. The ubiquitous and under-appreciated flowering trees are another symbol of a Hawaii long gone.

Near the water’s edge, Dewald planted several large coconut palms, which puts the spectacular ocean view in a tropical frame. The trees also provide a good spot to hang a hammock. For the vast lawn, the landscaper chose El Toro zoysia, a hardy variety, which is salt tolerant but can also stand up to heavy foot traffic.

Local Style: One of the characteristics of an old-style landscape is the placement of plant materials close to the house. Here dwarf plumeria and ginger grow close to the outdoor decking, which makes flower picking easy.

Around the home, the plantings are as elegant as the rest of the landscape. Within a flagstone walking path grow simple plantings of xanadu philodendron, heliconia, ginger and dwarf lauae and kupukupu fern. Along each side of the sun deck’s stairway, two dwarf plumeria trees, along with a pair of tikis and torches, stand guard.

“The idea there was that nothing would grow higher than the deck’s railing,” says Dewald. “We didn’t want anything that would obscure the view of the ocean. Nothing should or can compete with that.”

Dewald credits the homeowners and their meticulous attention to detail and insistence on preserving the original spirit of the house for the success of the project. The landscaper admits that he would have cut down a few more of the property’s old trees, a move which would have removed some of the home’s local-style charm.

“This home and landscape are real throwbacks,” says Dewald. “People just don’t do this anymore. Usually, it’s about building a 4,000- or 5,000-square-foot home for only two or three people. People are always trying to outdo each other so it’s refreshing to see someone build a small house, so they can enjoy the outdoors.”

With his house completed and landscape thriving, the homeowner, who spends six months out of the year in Hawaii, is now contemplating staying in the Islands for long periods of time. “Every time I step off of the plane, I feel like I’m home,” he says. “Somehow, I must have been Hawaiian in another life.”