Nob Hill

Quarters A, B, C in 1923

By the 1920s, the US Navy was building up its Naval Air Station on Ford Island. As part of this growth, in 1922 the Navy began construction on the north end of the island for three married officers’ homes (Quarters A, B, and C), later known as “Nob Hill.”

The three homes were built in the same style, but Quarters A, designated as the Commanding Officer’s Quarters, was a configured slightly differently.

Quarters A (Facility #321)

Quarters A (Facility #321)

Quarters A was originally the Commanding Officer’s quarters and was one of the original 1923 homes built on Ford Island. It differs from Quarters B and Quarters C (also 1923) because it contains a wing for the kitchen and servants spaces.

The house is considered a simple American Craftsman in style, with elements commonly found in sugar plantation homes in Hawaii.

The design is similar to that of the Hale Alii one-story homes built at Pearl Harbor in 1916.

Other features include:

• One story wood-frame house with lava rock and concrete foundation piers
• Diagonal wood lattice between foundation piers.
• Board-and-batten siding with 5-inch-wide battens over 12-inch-wide boards
• Wood water table
• Shingled complex hip roof with wide over handing eaves.

Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ)

Nob Hill BOQ in 1923

As the Nob Hill homes were being completed in 1923, a large Bachelor Officers Quarters and neighboring servants’ quarters were built near the married officers’ quarters in the Nob Hill neighborhood.

The front of the BOQ included an oval drive encircling a Banyan tree. The BOQ housed Ford Island families for days following the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

The BOQ building was demolished by 1952. A banyan tree is all that remains today.

The 1930s Nob Hill Homes

As the Naval Air Station on Ford Island grew, so did the need for more housing. In 1936, sixteen additional houses were built in the Nob Hill neighborhood with two different designs. Both of the designs were of a simplified Craftsman/plantation style. One of the houses, Quarters K, was built on top of the former Battery Adair.

1936 Nob Hill home newly restored in 2009

Nob Hill Today

The Nob Hill neighborhood is being restored by Hawaii Military Communities, LLC, as part of the Hawaii Public-Private venture to develop, restore and manage Navy housing in Hawaii. In June 2009, the first of the homes to complete the restoration received a traditional Hawaiian blessing. The event marked not only the completion of the restoration, it celebrated the success of a collaborative effort of many groups including Hawaii Military Communities LLC, the U.S. Navy, the ACHP, the State Historic Preservation Division, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the City and County of Honolulu and Historic Hawaii Foundation. The result of the collaboration is the preservation of this historic and beautiful neighborhood for present and future generations.

Official opening of the Historic Nob Hill homes after restoration in 2009

Quarters K and Battery Adair

Hale Loa (Long House), a.k.a. “Quarters K,” was the Commanding Officer’s quarters built above Battery Adair in 1936. Until Quarters K was built, Quarters A was the commanding officer’s home.

In 1937, CDR Robert Hickey became the first resident of Quarters K. In 1958 he returned to live in the same house as Rear Admiral. He planted the tree at the front lefthand corner of the house during his first tenure.

Newly restored Quarters K in 2009

During the attack on Pearl Harbor, families from the CPO Quarters and Nob Hill dashed to Quarters K for shelter. At the time, Admiral Bellinger and his family lived in Quarters K. Admiral Bellinger was the commander of Patrol Wing 2 and Task Force 9, thus in charge of the naval air base defense force.

The Army built Battery Adair on the northeast side of the island. It was named on January 16, 1917, for First Lt. Henry Adair, 10th US Cavalry, who died in Mexico in 1916.