Haiku House

Maui County, HI, United States

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Haiku House

Maui County, HI, United States

Firm

See Arch

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2022

SIZE

5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft

Located in Maui, Hawaii, the Haiku House was designed for a San Francisco couple as they prepared for retirement. The clients had owned the land for decades, staying in the Ohana on the property when they vacationed in Maui. As retirement grew closer, they engaged Sarah Ebner of See Arch and Bone Structure (steel building system) to begin designing their dream home. Tranquility, harmony, and a connection to the land and site were priorities that the architect worked closely with the clients to achieve.

The home was to be monumental but not overbearing. Respecting the sense of place and the client's vision of the sort of structure to be located atop the hill was a key design priority for the team. While very visible, the home was designed to be terraced into the hill to embrace the natural topography and minimize its overall impact on the site.

The understated architecture is a backdrop to spectacular pastoral and ocean views to the North and Haleakalā Volcano to the South. While such dramatic views may seem a gift to any site, curating the client's robust art collection alongside the dramatic backdrop required the design team to embrace the looking both inward and outward throughout the home. Strategic window locations and sizes and visual interconnectivity between spaces promote views through the home as well as moments for featured art.

Entering the home, you are greeted by a large pivot entry door, obscuring the dramatic ocean view beyond. The entry divides the house into two distinct wings, one for privacy and the other for entertaining. In the instances where the two wings connect, exterior courtyard gardens with lush Maui greenery frame views between interior spaces – encouraging reflection, calm and a relationship back to the hillside site. The primary bedroom has the most north-facing view, minimizing onlooking from the rest of the home while offering a panoramic ocean view perch.

The client's art collection is an eclectic mix of high and low, ranging from 10th-century sculptures to contemporary paintings. It has been curated over time by the clients, each piece personally significant to them and the lives they share. The design team followed the client’s lead in choosing what pieces to showcase and where. Although the architecture was designed to support the art via subdued finishes and specific feature walls, in the end, both influence one another and define the character of the home.

Materials include book-matched travertine wall tiles, plywood-formed exposed concrete walls and cedar plank ceilings, offering warmth and texture while avoiding darkening or busying the space. Finishes are paired with other wood elements throughout the home, including wood slats lining the corridors and framing the stairway, millwork, and engineered flooring. The natural elements throughout connect the architecture with the lush gardens and greenery outside.