Discovering the Hawaiian Sense of Place

Posted by Colleen P. Medeiros RS-80134 on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019 at 12:07pm

For me, working in Maui’s Real Estate market is more than buying and selling homes. There are stories behind the homes embedded in their history and the surrounding landscape. Stories that span both generations and geologic time. Whether a place boasts monumental history, has complex place names, or is as simple (or diverse) as the features of its landscape, all places have their own uniqueness which imbues in them intrinsic value. Knowing these stories, histories, and understanding the physical landscape adds to one’s sense of place. I’d like to share some of these stories, like this simple background of my own neighborhood here on Maui, Kula Kai:


At the time of the Mahele Aina (1848), the lands of Kula Kai were granted in formal Land Grants to persons by the name of Kamaka, Mahu and S. Kaili. From these individuals, the lands passed to history-shaping figures in Hawaii including King David Kalakaua, Charles H. Alexander (founder of Halekala Ranch), Edward H. Bailey, Lorrin A. Thurston, George Forsyth, J.M . Pires, Henry P. Baldwin, and finally, to Haleakala Ranch Company. Haleakala Ranch then sold a section of these lands which now make up the lands of Kula Kai subdivision. Kula Kai was developed by A. J. Huddleston, a West Maui Realtor, in 1961. The 54.365 acre parcel was originally subdivided into 143 lots. It is believed that 91 Ka Drive was an old Haleakala Ranch house, present prior to the subdivision and therefore the first home in the neighborhood.

 

 

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