The King Kamehameha Golf Course Clubhouse, formerly known as the Waikapu Valley Country Club, is a building in Waikapu, Maui,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. The structure is based on the unbuilt Arthur Miller house (1957) originally conceived by American architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

(1867–1959). Wright designed the house for Arthur Miller's wife,

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

(1926–1962), but Miller and Monroe divorced soon after and the project was abandoned. The Arthur Miller house design was a modification of two previous unbuilt projects—the Raúl Baillères house (1952) and before it, the Robert F. Windfohr house (1949), also known as the "Crownfield" house.Pfeiffer, B. B. (1985). ''Frank Lloyd Wright, Treasures of Taliesin: Seventy-Seven Unbuilt Designs''. 1st Ed. Southern Illinois University Press. . This includes "Crownfield", Robert F. Windfohr House, Fort Worth, Texas, 1949, ''Plate 54''; and Raul Bailleres House, Acapulco, Mexico, 1952, ''Plate'' 56. Wright's work remained in the Taliesin archives for more than two decades until 1988 when Pundy Yokouchi and Howard Hamamoto visited Taliesin Architects in Scottsdale, Arizona, and expressed interest in building a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed golf clubhouse. Architect John Rattenbury combined all three unfinished Wright designs, enlarged them to meet the spatial requirements of a commercial clubhouse, and designed it to fit into the natural landscape of Waikapu's hilly terrain. Construction of the clubhouse was completed in 1993. Located at an elevation of 750 feet in the foothills of the

West Maui Mountains The West Maui Mountains, West Maui Volcano, or Mauna Kahālāwai which means "holding house of water," is approximately 1.7 million years old and forms a much eroded shield volcano that constitutes the western quarter of Maui. Since its last er ...

, the clubhouse looks out across the sugarcane-filled valley of Central Maui's isthmus towards the Upcountry slopes of the

Haleakalā Haleakalā (; Hawaiian: ), or the East Maui Volcano, is a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui. The western 25% of the island is formed by another volcano, Mauna Kahalawai, also referred to as the West ...

volcano in the east, with panoramic coastal views of Ma'alaea Bay in the south and Ho‘okipa Bay in the north.Rattenbury, J. (2000). ''A Living Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright and Taliesin Architects''. Pomegranate. . pp. 125-127.Tsutsumi, C. C. (July 3, 2006a
Dream House
''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'', D1.

History

In February 1949, Robert F. Windfohr and his wife

Anne Valliant Burnett Tandy Anne Valliant Burnett Tandy (October 15, 1900 – January 1, 1980) was an American heiress, rancher, horse breeder, philanthropist and art collector from Fort Worth, Texas. Early life Anne Burnett was born on October 15, 1900, in Fort Worth, Tex ...

asked architect

to design a luxury home for them on the prairie of

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

. Calling it "Crownfield", Wright designed it in a short period of time, and the Windfohr's discussed modifications, but the project never went anywhere.The Crownfield design was altered in 1952 for Mexican government official Raúl Baillères who planned to build the home in Acapulco,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Nothing came of the project. Then, in 1957,

contacted Wright about building a home for her and her husband

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

Roxbury, Connecticut Roxbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,260 at the 2020 census. The town is located northeast of New York City. History Roxbury, whose Native name was ''Shepaug'', a Mahican word signifying "roc ...

. Wright expanded the original plans for Crownfield, complete with movie theater, pool, and nursery for the children Miller and Monroe planned to have. But the marriage did not last and Wright died shortly after, leaving the unfinished plans archived at

Taliesin West Taliesin West was architect Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and studio in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959 at the age of 91. Today it is the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Open to the public for tours, Taliesin ...

.Campbell, B. (April 19, 2007)
Long, Hard Journey: From the Pen Of Frank Lloyd Wright to Hawaii
''The Wall Street Journal''. 249 (91), D8. In 1984, businessman Sandy Sims first contacted the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona, and proposed a Golf course development and subdivision using unbuilt designs from Wright's archives to construct Wright-designed residences on the course. Developers Pundy Yokouchi and Howard Hamamoto contacted Taliesin Architects and requested an original Frank Lloyd Wright design for a golf clubhouse in Waikapu, Maui, Hawaii. Architect John Rattenbury combined all three designs to produce a new structure that fit into the Waikapu landscape. Due to a period of drought on Maui, the second stage of the project involving a subdivision composed of 30 Wright-designed homes was put on hold and was never built. Lead developer Takeshi Sekiguchi and builder Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company constructed the clubhouse from concrete and steel, completing the project in 1993.Ginella, M., Loof, T. (November 2008)
When Frank Lloyd Wright Met Marilyn Monroe
''Golf Digest''. 59 (11), 124.

Features

The building is split into three levels with two-thirds of the structure underground, with a total area of 74,778 square feet. Copper fascia surrounds the domed roofs of the building which fits into the landscape of the West Maui Mountains behind it and the golf course bunkers in front. The upper level has an area of 20,421 square feet.Clubhouse Guide. The King Kamehameha Golf Club. Wailuku, Hawaii. It includes the lobby, pro shop, meeting rooms, dining room, and kitchen. There are three banquet meeting rooms. The dining room features a 100-foot dome roof with a central 25 foot skylight. At 3,800 sq. feet, the pro shop is the largest in the state of Hawaii. The mid level of the building has an area of 26,741 square feet. The lower level has an area of 27,616 square feet and contains locker rooms for men and women, Japanese baths, golf cart parking and maintenance facilities. The main stairwell sits beneath a stained glass sky panel based on Wright's original butterfly art glass design over the entrance of the Dana–Thomas House in Springfield, Illinois. Endemic nene (''Branta sandvicensis'') geese live on the grounds. Native plants in the area include ʻilima (''Sida fallax'') and 'akia (''Wikstroemia foetida''). Common tropical trees and plants on the grounds include

plumeria ''Plumeria'' (), known as frangipani, is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Rauvolfioideae, of the family Apocynaceae. Most species are deciduous shrubs or small trees. The species variously are endemic to Mexico, Central America, and ...

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

, Cook pine (''Araucaria columnaris''), monkeypod (''Albizia saman''), and

Bougainvillea ''Bougainvillea'' ( , ) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the four o' clock family, Nyctaginaceae. It is native to eastern South America, found from Brazil, west to Peru, and south to southern Argentina. ...

.Tsutsumi, C. C. (November 16, 2006b
Hawaiian culture, history linked at Maui golf oasis
''The Boston Herald''.

Ownership

The clubhouse was originally owned by the Waikapu Valley Country Club, and later, the Grand Waikapu Golf Resort and Spa which changed ownership and closed in 1999. During this time, the clubhouse remained open and was used for special events. In 2004, Makoto Kaneko purchased the business for $12.5 million and invested $40 million in restoring the property. It re-opened in 2006 as the King Kamehameha Golf Course Clubhouse.

Art collection

The clubhouse contains an extensive collection of artwork honoring the culture of Hawaii, including a painting by Herb Kawainui Kāne, featherwork by Jo-Anne Kahanamoku-Sterling, kapa by Puanani Van Dorpe, bronze sculptures by Dale Zarella, and a portrait by Tonia Marks Baney.

Popular culture

The golf course served the location as the Finish Line for the 14th season of the 2009 American reality television program ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

''.

References

External links

The King Kamehameha Golf ClubYoutube
{{Frank Lloyd Wright Sports venues completed in 1993 Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Buildings and structures in Maui County, Hawaii 1993 establishments in Hawaii Clubhouses in Hawaii