W. H. Shipman House is a historic home used by

William Herbert Shipman William Herbert Shipman (1854–1943) was a businessman with an American background who was from Hawaii. He grew up and conducted his business on the island of Hawaii. One estate of his family was used to preserve the nēnē, an endangered species ...

. It is located at 141 Kaiulani Street, named for

Princess Kaiulani Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

, the last crown princess of the Kingdom and Liliuokalani's niece. In 1856

King Kamehameha IV Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title ''Ke Aliʻi ...

leased an area known as ''Kolo iki'' to William Reed for cattle pasture. In 1861 Reed purchased the and it came to be known as "Reed's Island". It is not really an island, but the area between a current and ancient channel of the

Wailuku River The Wailuku River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 28, 2011 water course on the Island of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is the longest river in Hawai'i and ...

. J. R. "Jack" Wilson owned Volcano Stables, a horse rental business at the current site of the historic Volcano Block Building in Hilo. In 1899 after an iron bridge was completed, Wilson bought a lot with a view on Reed's island and built a large house in the

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...

style. It was designed by

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 ...

architect Henry Livingston Kerr, and constructed with indoor plumbing and electricity. In addition to the main house placed prominently on a hill the estate includes a guest house, servants' quarters, gardens, and a garage. An unusual feature is the two-story round tower with conical roof, circular veranda, and large curved panes of glass. In February 1901 William Shipman bought the house to entertain guests in the growing city of Hilo. Deposed

Queen Liliuokalani Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

would play her compositions at the grand piano when she was visiting. Author

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

and his wife stayed at this house for five weeks in August and September 1907, while his boat ''The Snark'' was being repaired. London's book ''

The Cruise of the Snark ''The Cruise of the Snark'' (1911) is a non-fictional, illustrated book by Jack London chronicling his sailing adventure in 1907 across the south Pacific in his ketch the ''Snark''. Accompanying London on this voyage was his wife Charmian London ...

'' (1911) is based on this journey. In the early 1930s,

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

filmed ''

Four Frightened People ''Four Frightened People'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code adventure film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Claudette Colbert, Herbert Marshall, Mary Boland, and William Gargan. It is based on the 1931 novel by E. Arnot Robertson. Plot The ...

'' in the gulch below the house, as well as on the Shipman land in Puna. In 1939 artist

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Amer ...

stayed and was shown various sites that appeared in her paintings. The Hilo house was listed on the state register of historic places on December 5, 1973, as site 10-35-7405, and the

National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii This is a list of properties and districts on the island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The island is coterminous with Hawaii County, the state's only county that covers exactly ...

on June 23, 1978, as site 78001013. Barbara-Ann Andersen (daughter of Roy Shipman Blackshear, a great-granddaughter of W. H. Shipman) restored the house and operated it for roughly 20 years starting in 1997 as a

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

hotel.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shipman, W. H., House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Houses completed in 1899 Houses in Hawaii County, Hawaii National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii County, Hawaii