Graham Builders designed custom, mahogany-color privacy screens to shield the yard and part of the home from streetview.

The journey to create one young couple’s first home began with a blank slate. Other than a piece of family land in Manoa and a budget, they knew little else about their future home. “There was no house here before,” the husband says, of the land that was formerly farmland to his grandparents, and later, his parents. “We were truly starting from scratch.”

Unsure of where to turn, they learned about an educational seminar offered by Graham Builders. For the past 14 years, the company has offered free seminars to the public on a variety of home-building and remodeling topics — from how to design a home for life to multigenerational living to building green.
Luckily, it turned out to be just-the-right place to begin their process. They learned everything they needed to know to gain confidence and, ultimately, chose Graham Builders to carry out their project.
“Our process always begins right up front with needs and wants,”
Graham Builders’ president, Evan Fujimoto, explains. “But we’re quite different in that, when we design, we’ll leave a lot of the plan more or less undeveloped, because our hope is that the homeowners will take ownership of that and begin to fill in these blanks that are purposely left there.”

Clean lines and cool colors help this new home fit in Manoa Valley. A second floor loft space enables the homeowners to add a second story down the line if necessary.

After deciding on about 1,600 square feet of living space, including a great room, three bedrooms and a second-floor loft space, the homeowners and Graham Builders got to work filling in the creative blanks.
Outside, the home is reminiscent of late 1950s or early 1960s architecture, but because the couple is young, it also features more contemporary lines and colors. There is traditional, horizontal lap siding and a low-pitched roof, but the couple went with cool grays for the exterior and trim color. The experts at Graham suggested warm, red mahogany for all the doors. “We weren’t too sure about that at first,” the wife says, “but we’re surprised and pleased with how well the contrast works.” As the landscaping fills in, the house will also continue to blend with the old neighborhood, Fujimoto notes.

Inside, the living areas of the home’s main level are divided into four quadrants: the kitchen, dining room, living room and outdoor patio.  Utilizing the square footage with great flexibility, the dining room and patio both have doors that open and close depending on the couple’s needs — an idea inspired by Japanese architecture and the use of shoji screens. If the couple is having a party, they can open up the space to allow for lots of people. Conversely, when it’s just the two of them, they can close it up for a cozier feel.
The kitchen is large and includes an island that seats three. “It was really important to us that we could both be in the kitchen at the same time without bumping into each other,” the wife says. With access to the kitchen from two sides and two sinks, their wish was granted. Plenty of counter space, storage and a laundry room right off the kitchen gave them everything they needed and more.



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