The Salvation Army Waiʻoli Tea Room was a

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

restaurant that operated from 1922 to 2014. After being closed for several years it reopened in November, 2018 as Waiʻoli Kitchen and Bake Shop. The restaurant is in a historic building at 2950 Mānoa Road, at the intersection of O'ahu Avenue and Mānoa Road on the island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

. Adjacent to the restaurant is a replica of the grass house that

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

occupied in 1889 when he visited Princess Ka'iulani and her father

Archibald Scott Cleghorn Archibald Scott Cleghorn (November 15, 1835 – November 1, 1910) was a Scottish businessman who married into the royal family of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Biography He was born on November 15, 1835, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Thomas Cleghorn an ...

at their ʻĀinahau estate in Waikiki.

History

Located in Mānoa Valley, the Waiʻoli Tea Room was formally dedicated in 1922, as part of the Salvation Army Girls' Home program to teach young women marketable job skills. The Salvation Army facility was one of several institutions in Hawaii in that era that provided care for those in need. Other such facilities included the Kaiulani Home for Girls, the Castle Home, and the Catholic Orphanage. The concept for Wai'oli Tea Room was based on the high tea traditions of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

emigrants living in Hawaii at the time it was built in 1922. Waiʻoli used "high tea" and "afternoon tea" to mean the same thing. Over the years, it has been a popular venue for local residents as well as tourists.

The historic building

The original one-story lava rock and shingle bungalow features an open lānai (veranda), a large room with an open-beam ceiling, fireplace, and tall double-hung windows, and another smaller room with a fireplace. It was designed by Emory & Webb, a successful Honolulu architectural firm of the era, to harmonize with nearby residences. Walter Leavitte Emory was born November 10, 1868, in

Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private e ...

. He relocated to the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

in 1898. Marshall Hickman Webb was born May 7, 1869 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Sometime between 1908 and 1910, the two formed the architectural partnership of Emory & Webb. They designed numerous buildings and residences in Honolulu, perhaps the most notable being the 1922

Hawaii Theatre The Hawaii Theatre is a historic 1922 theatre in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, located at 1130 Bethel Street, between Hotel and Pauahi Streets, on the edge of Chinatown. It is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. History ...

. Emory died in 1929. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on Oahu on October 30, 1998. When it was originally built in 1922, there was one L-shaped wing. A 1926 addition created a U-shaped building; the resulting interior open lānai was subsequently roofed over and enclosed. The current entrance dates from 1960.

Robert Louis Stevenson's grass house

Located on the Waiʻoli grounds adjacent to the restaurant is what has become known as the

Memorial Grass House. It is a replica of the original that was once there. The structure was built as a guest house at their ʻĀinahau estate by the father of Princess Ka'iulani, businessman

. In 1889, Stevenson and his family stayed in the grass house. Ka'iulani and the author spent much time together on the estate. Ka'iulani died in 1899. When Cleghorn died in 1910, he willed the estate to the

, specifying it be maintained as a park in Ka'iulani's memory. The Princess Ka'iulani Hotel now stands where the ʻĀinahau estate once was. When the hut was auctioned off in 1926, it was moved to the current location. Although the Salvation Army initially did a complete restoration of the structure, it had to be entirely rebuilt in 1983. In 2003, it was destroyed by high winds. The grass house was finally rebuilt and reopened in 2012.

Notes

References

External links

Waiʻoli Tea Room official siteWaiʻoli Kitchen and Bake Shop official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salvation Army Wai'oli Tea Room Restaurants in Hawaii Salvation Army buildings Tea houses Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Restaurants established in 1922 1922 establishments in Hawaii Salvationism in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu Restaurants on the National Register of Historic Places Restaurants disestablished in 2014 2014 disestablishments in Hawaii