Charles Montague Cooke, Jr., House and Kuka'O'O Heiau
Encyclopedia
Charles Montague Cooke, Jr., House and Kūkaōō Heiau is a property in Honolulu, Hawaii
. The house, also known as Kualii (also spelled Kualii), was built in 1911–1912 for Charles Montague Cooke, Jr., and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1985. The listing's boundaries were increased in 2000 to include the Kūkaōō Heiau (Tax Map Keys 2-9-19:35 and 2-9-19:43, respectively).
(of Castle & Cooke
) gave his son Monty (as Charles Montague Cooke, Jr. was called) a large tract of land on a high ridge in Mānoa Valley that contained an ancient Hawaiian heiau. That was the year Monty married Lila Lefferts. In 1911, Monty hired two prominent architects, Walter Emory and Marshall Webb, to build a large stone mansion in Tudor style on the hillside above the heiau. The house cost $40,000 and was named for an ancient Hawaiian chief.
The basement and ground floor, built of basalt
lava rock quarried on site, support two upper floors of half-timber and stucco
. At each end of the house is a heavy stone chimney, one rising from the kitchen, the other from the living room. The central entry bay is covered by a porte-cochere with stone columns and a half gabled second floor above it, and flanked by gabled entry bays at each end of the house.
(temple of ancient Hawaii
), Kūkaōō, is composed of kū 'stand' + ka 'the' + ōō 'digging stick', and has several possible translations. According to one source, it means 'Kū of the digging stick'. According to another, it means 'standing digging stick', in apparent reference to an old legend about a chief named Kawelo who was said to have thrown a digging stick from the highest mountain at the back of the valley down onto the hill where the heiau stands, known as Puu Pueo 'owl hill'.
The square-shaped heiau measures about 12 meters across and stands about 6 meters above the flat, rocky clearing on which it stands. The late Bernice P. Bishop Museum anthropologist Kenneth Emory
estimated the heiau to be 1,000 years old. Its gardens used to help sustain the population of the ahupuaa of Waikiki
.
The land was inherited by Cooke's daughter, who sold it to a developer in 1992.
In 1992, the current owners, Samuel Alexander Cooke (born 1937, grandson of Charles Montague Cooke, Jr.) and Mary Cooke, purchased the land and commissioned preservationist Nathan Napoka to reconstruct the walls of the old heiau, which had been badly overgrown. Stonemason Billy Fields relied on survey drawings from the 1930s to rebuild the walls, using only rocks found on-site.
In 1996 the Mānoa Heritage Center was established to manage the site and offer educational tours.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. The house, also known as Kualii (also spelled Kualii), was built in 1911–1912 for Charles Montague Cooke, Jr., and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1985. The listing's boundaries were increased in 2000 to include the Kūkaōō Heiau (Tax Map Keys 2-9-19:35 and 2-9-19:43, respectively).
Building history
In 1902, wealthy businessman Charles Montague CookeCharles Montague Cooke
Charles Montague Cooke was a businessman during the Kingdom of Hawaii, Republic of Hawaii and Territory of Hawaii.-Life:Charles Montague Cooke was born May 6, 1849 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father was Amos Starr Cooke co-founder of Castle & Cooke...
(of Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture...
) gave his son Monty (as Charles Montague Cooke, Jr. was called) a large tract of land on a high ridge in Mānoa Valley that contained an ancient Hawaiian heiau. That was the year Monty married Lila Lefferts. In 1911, Monty hired two prominent architects, Walter Emory and Marshall Webb, to build a large stone mansion in Tudor style on the hillside above the heiau. The house cost $40,000 and was named for an ancient Hawaiian chief.
The basement and ground floor, built of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
lava rock quarried on site, support two upper floors of half-timber and stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
. At each end of the house is a heavy stone chimney, one rising from the kitchen, the other from the living room. The central entry bay is covered by a porte-cochere with stone columns and a half gabled second floor above it, and flanked by gabled entry bays at each end of the house.
Heiau
The name of the heiauHeiau
A heiau is a Hawaiian temple. Many types of heiau existed, including heiau to treat the sick , offer first fruits, offer first catch, start rain, stop rain, increase the population, ensure health of the nation, achieve success in distant voyaging, reach peace, and achieve success in war . Only the...
(temple of ancient Hawaii
Ancient Hawaii
Ancient Hawaii refers to the period of Hawaiian human history preceding the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great in 1810. After being first settled by Polynesian long-distance navigators sometime between AD 300–800, a unique culture developed. Diversified agroforestry and...
), Kūkaōō, is composed of kū 'stand' + ka 'the' + ōō 'digging stick', and has several possible translations. According to one source, it means 'Kū of the digging stick'. According to another, it means 'standing digging stick', in apparent reference to an old legend about a chief named Kawelo who was said to have thrown a digging stick from the highest mountain at the back of the valley down onto the hill where the heiau stands, known as Puu Pueo 'owl hill'.
The square-shaped heiau measures about 12 meters across and stands about 6 meters above the flat, rocky clearing on which it stands. The late Bernice P. Bishop Museum anthropologist Kenneth Emory
Kenneth Emory
Kenneth Pike Emory was an American anthropologist who played a key role in shaping modern anthropology in Oceania. In the tradition of A. L...
estimated the heiau to be 1,000 years old. Its gardens used to help sustain the population of the ahupuaa of Waikiki
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
.
The land was inherited by Cooke's daughter, who sold it to a developer in 1992.
In 1992, the current owners, Samuel Alexander Cooke (born 1937, grandson of Charles Montague Cooke, Jr.) and Mary Cooke, purchased the land and commissioned preservationist Nathan Napoka to reconstruct the walls of the old heiau, which had been badly overgrown. Stonemason Billy Fields relied on survey drawings from the 1930s to rebuild the walls, using only rocks found on-site.
In 1996 the Mānoa Heritage Center was established to manage the site and offer educational tours.