Historic Properties

Hōlau Market

Address 942 Kekaulike St, Honolulu, HI 96817 TMK -- SHPD Historic Site Number Not Yet Available Abstract Erected in 1936, Hōlau Market was a Honolulu Chinatown market with refrigeration and other modern conveniences catering to Native Hawaiians. It proved to be an innovator in Honolulu’s retail grocery trade by providing new amenities, conveniences, and greater choices for its patrons. The building was originally owned by Mary Ellen Hōlau Loncke and Frank J. Loncke, and was designed by prominent Issei engineer and architectural designer, Hego Fuchino. Mankichi Goto, owner of the Aloha Building Company, oversaw construction. Its foundation is concrete, as is the floor, roof slabs, piers, columns, and beams. The building is significant under Criterion A for its focus on supporting culinary traditions (poi, laulau, limu, palu, and more) for Native Hawaiian customers. It’s also significant under Criterion C for its design and construction including detailing and ornamentation associated with the Art Deco style. The most distinctive physical attributes are on the front façade, which includes a series of transoms above the mostly open ground-level storefront, separate sets of horizontal bands on the outer bays of the three- part stepped parapet, and a decorative grill with half-lunette-like concrete blocks on each side of the parapet. Most of the ground-level interior is open to allow for the installation (since removed) of multiple stalls and counters to serve customers. The building is also a contributing feature in the Chinatown National Historic District.

2023-06-22T15:33:25-10:00March 6th, 2023|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |

Wo Fat Chop Sui (Suey) House

Address 115 North Hotel Street, Honolulu, HI 96817 TMK 170020260000 SHPD Historic Site Number Not Yet Available Abstract Wo Fat as a corporate entity in its various permutations survived destruction in the Chinatown fires of 1886 and 1900, eventually moving to the corner of Hotel and Maunakea Streets in Honolulu’s Chinatown. The current iteration, the Wo Fat Chop Sui (Suey) House was built in 1937 by W.S. Ching and designed by Yuk Ton Char, a successful Chinese American architect practicing in Honolulu at the time. The property is significant under Criterion A in the areas of Ethnic/Heritage (Asian) and Commerce and under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. Stylistically, the building displays architectural motifs indicative of traditional Chinese architecture. Noteworthy elements include the curved green tile roof, decorative brackets, three-story pagoda, and distinctive signage with Hanzi script. The rare combination of architectural detailing draws inspiration from traditional Chinese motifs as well as the geometric forms associated with the Art Deco style. The building is also a contributing feature in the Chinatown National Historic District.

2023-03-06T14:19:15-10:00March 6th, 2023|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

Address 2177 Puowaina Drive, Honolulu, HI 96813 TMK (1) 2-2-005:001, :002 SHPD Historic Site Number 80-14-1300 Abstract The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is located within a caldera that was formed about 275,000 years ago. On January 4, 1949, the Punchbowl crater was established as the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific when an unknown serviceman, killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, was the first American was buried there. The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is a final resting place for those whose sacrifices have preserved America's freedoms. This list of Hawaii’s historic properties is provided as a public service by Historic Hawaii Foundation. It is not the official list of properties designated on the Hawaii State Register of Historic Places. For official designations and determinations of eligibility, contact the State Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources of the State of Hawaii at 808-692-8015.

2022-11-21T14:43:21-10:00November 21st, 2022|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: , |

2115 Kamehameha Ave / John A. and Jean L. Johnson Residence

Address 2115 Kamehameha Ave Honolulu, HI 96822 TMK (1) 2-9-001: 028 SHPD Historic Site Number Not Yet Available Abstract The John A. and Jean L. Johnson Residence was constructed in 1905 by an unknown architect. It is a single story, Queen Anne revival style house with a composition shingled, front facing, gable roof with a prominent intersecting gable on the northeast side. Both the front and side gables are handled in a unique manner with the central portion of each gable end recessed in a round arch, which contains an attic window and ventilators. The end gable displays a small canted oriel window supported by brackets while the front set is flush with the wall. The roof has closed, overhanging eaves featuring ogee brackets. The double wall house has shiplap walls and cut shingled gable ends, which have a distinctive serrated lower row. An inset, front, corner lanai is at the north corner of the house and two bay windows grace the northeast side of the house. The house sits on a lava rock and post and pier foundation with diamond pattern lattice screens covering openings to the foundation. The Johnson Residence is significant under Criterion C, as a good example of a Queen Anne style house built in Honolulu during the opening decade of the twentieth century. In addition, the house is also significant under Criterion A for its associations with the development of Manoa valley, and more specifically the College Hills Tract.

2022-11-21T14:37:15-10:00November 2nd, 2022|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |

2856 Komaia Street / Roscoe and Miriam Allen Residence

Address 2856 Komaia Street Honolulu, HI 96822 TMK (1) 2-9-017: 010 SHPD Historic Site Number Not Yet Available Abstract Built in 1938, the Roscoe and Miriam Allen residence was constructed by an unknown architect but reflects modern design. The Allen Residence is significant on the local level under Criterion C, as a good example of a house built in Honolulu during the 1930s in a modern style. The front entry is characterized by a projecting trellis above a large picture window. The two story, modern style house sits on a concrete slab foundation, and has a rectangular footprint. Its first story walls are of reinforced concrete while the second story is of horizontal, redwood, tongue and groove boards, much of which has been covered in asbestos concrete shingles. It has a low pitched, composition shingled, hip roof with overhanging closed eaves. The eaves’ soffits are of tongue and groove.

2022-11-21T14:38:33-10:00November 2nd, 2022|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |

2312 Ka‘ala Street / Paul and Fanetta Loomis Residence

Address 2312 Ka‘ala Street Honolulu, HI 96822 TMK (1) 2-9-005: 012 SHPD Historic Site Number Not Yet Available Abstract The Paul and Fanetta Loomis Residence was constructed in 1924 by an unknown architect.  The single story, single wall, colonial revival style cottage has a composition shingled hip roof with overhanging, open eaves and exposed rafter tails. The 30’ x 32’, roughly rectangular shaped, two-bedroom house sits on a post and pier foundation with a square lattice apron and its walls have double-lap rustic, beveled siding. The house is characterized by a modest, centered portico with a broken pediment supported by Tuscan columns. The Loomis Residence is significant on the local level under Criterion C, as a good example of a colonial revival style cottage built in Honolulu during the 1920s. The house is also significant under Criterion A for its associations with the development of the College Hills Tract.

2022-11-21T14:35:58-10:00November 2nd, 2022|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |

1024 Noio Street / Dr. Carl and Jean Mason Residence

Address 1024 Noio Street Honolulu, HI 96816 TMK (1) 3-5-030: 003 SHPD Historic Site Number Not Yet Available Abstract Constructed in 1959, the Mason residence is significant on the local level under Criterion C, as a good example of a house built in Honolulu during the 1950s in a modern style. The house includes a number of distinctive features and is typical of its period in its design, materials, workmanship and methods of construction. It is the work of a master having been designed by Vladimir Ossipoff, and possesses high artistic values. The single-story, modern style house sits on a concrete slab foundation, and has an irregular L-shaped floor plan. Its walls are vertical, 8” wide, redwood, tongue and groove boards, and its low pitched, intersecting, decra-mastic galvanized aluminum, gable roofs have open, overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails. The Mason residence stands as an excellent example of modern style residential architecture in Hawaii and especially Ossipoff’s residential work.

2022-11-21T14:34:27-10:00November 2nd, 2022|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |

La Pietra Townhouse, O‘ahu (Multiple Property Nomination)

Abstract The La Pietra Townhouse is a multiple property nomination. The townhouse was conceived in 1967 and built in 1971 by architect Louis Pursel and developer Bert Williams. The site was landscaped by San Francisco landscape architecture firm Eckbo, Dean, Austin and Williams. The site is comprised of 19 duplexes and 38 units, although the listing is comprised of only10 units. The dwelling units at La Pietra Townhouses are significant on the local level under Criterion C, as a very good example of a luxury townhouse unit built in Honolulu during the late 1960s-early 1970s in a modern Hawai‘i style. The design is based on open flowing interior spaces, use of local lava rock and low-pitched hip-gable roofs, with overhanding eaves and exposed rafter tails. The extensive indoor-outdoor opportunities are typical of Hawai‘i’s regional architecture in the modern style. The dwelling units are significant at the local level under criterion A for their associations with the development of townhouse complexes in Hawai‘i. Unusual for the time, the La Pietra Townhouses are the employment of duplexes, as well as the size of the individual units, with 2,228 square feet of living space, and the size and privacy of the back yards. The development’s amount of green, open space is significant.  They are also significant for associations with historic preservation in Hawai‘i. The call for the need to preserve La Pietra, which had been slated for demolition, was among early successful public outcries against a large-scale private development proposal in the name of historic preservation. Unit 1: Al and Vivian Phillips Residence Address 3005 La Pietra Circle TMK (1) 3-1-029:0330001 Nomination Form Unit 2:  [...]

2024-03-05T17:25:21-10:00July 15th, 2022|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |

Walker Park

Address Bounded by Queen Street, Nimitz Highway, and Topa Financial Center building facade TMK N/A SHPD Historic Site Number Not Yet Available Abstract Walker Park is locally significant under Criterion A for its association with post-World War II community planning and transportation on the island of O‘ahu, and under Criterion C for its design as a modern pedestrian plaza. With its broad, paved open space, fountain, decorative planters, and seating integrated into the hardscape, is a successful example of office tower plazas typical of the era. The triangular plot of land is the result of a major road construction and traffic alleviation project initiated in the 1930s and completed in the 1950s. Originally a traffic island created in 1952, it was designed by Honolulu landscape architects Catherine and Robert Thompson. The designed plaza portion was added and the site named Walker Park, in honor of former Amfac, Inc. executive Henry Alexander Walker, Sr., in 1972. The plaza and fountain were designed by architect William D. Podesto and landscape architect Anthony M. Guzzardo & Associates, both of San Francisco. The 1972 plaza’s connection and integration into the 1952 landscaped traffic island is an early example of private development of a public open space. The later period changes, creating a plaza or mall from a block of Fort Street, and the addition of salvaged historic objects and art to the landscape, are considered integral to the resource. The landscape and hardscape work done in 1971-1972 expanded the original boundaries of the park up to the new building facade, and added the salvaged historic building materials, art objects, and commemorative signage to the site.

2022-07-19T20:45:48-10:00July 15th, 2022|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |

1308 Alapai Street/ Queens Quarters (Alapai Apartments)

Address 1308 Alapai Street, Honolulu, HI 96813 TMK (1) 2-1-037: 001 SHPD Historic Site Number Not Yet Available Abstract The Queens Quarters, also known as Alapai Apartments, was designed by Jo Paul Rognstad. Built by Allied Construction, the structure was completed in 1969. The Queen’s Quarters is significance under Criterion A for its association with the development of housing in Honolulu during the late 1960s. Queen’s Quarters is also significant under Criterion C for its distinctive mid-century design employing strong horizontal and vertical elements. The open-air walkways at each lever and the cantilevered lanai are local adaptations to the mid-century vocabulary. The building’s rectilinear forms, asymmetry, cantilevered elements, and a lack of decoration are key characteristics of the International Style.  The building is an expression of Hawai‘i vernacular in its use of concrete as the primary building material, its open-air walkways and stairs, breis block walls for ventilation, and louvered windows and doors.

2022-07-15T22:50:46-10:00July 15th, 2022|Categories: Historic Properties|Tags: |
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