The Georges de S. Canavarro House, also known as the Canavarro Castle, at 2756 Rooke Ave., Honolulu, Hawaii

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...

, was built in 1924–1927 for Georges de Souza Canavarro, son of the longtime Consul-General of Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 in Hawaii, Antonio de Souza Canavarro. It was designed by Hart Wood

Hart Wood

Hart Wood was an American architect who flourished during the "Golden Age" of Hawaiian architecture. He was one of the principal proponents of a distinctive "Hawaiian style" of architecture appropriate to the local environment and reflective of the cultural heritage of the islands...

, the leader of a group of architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

s aiming to develop a style suitable for the climate and lifestyle of the islands. It was 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 1980 as a fine example of the Mediterranean Revival style employed for several large estates of that era, most notably Walter F. Dillingham

Walter F. Dillingham

Walter Francis Dillingham , called the Baron of Hawaii Industry, was an industrialist and businessman from Honolulu, Hawaii.He gained favors from Hawaii politicians to develop urban Honolulu.-Life:...

's La Pietra. The design in this case was inspired by Sicilian villas.

The house site is on a steep slope in the Puunui area of Nuuanu Valley, next to the Oahu Country Club, with expansive views up the Valley and down to Honolulu harbor

Harbor

A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...

. The roofing is covered with red tile

Tile

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...

s, the masonry

Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

 walls are covered with white 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...

 both inside and out, and the terraced floors and terraced grounds give the impression of a hillside town above the Mediterranean. The house itself is cross-shaped with an open courtyard

Courtyard

A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....

 and fountain in the center. The master bedroom

Bedroom

A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...

, bath

Bathroom

A bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....

, and parlor are on the uphill side above the courtyard, with dining room

Dining room

A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level...

, kitchen

Kitchen

A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...

, and pantry

Pantry

A pantry is a room where food, provisions or dishes are stored and served in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. The derivation of the word is from the same source as the Old French term paneterie; that is from pain, the French form of the Latin panis for bread.In a late medieval hall, there were...

 on the downhill side. The north wing contains a library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 and two more bedrooms with separate baths. The interior floor

Floor

A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology...

s are tiled and ceilings are coffer

Coffer

A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...

ed.

In 1947, the Canavarro Castle was purchased by the Korean Kook Min Hur (National Association), but subsequently fell into disuse. In 2002, the Korean Cultural Center of Hawaii bought the property and restored it for use as a meeting site and museum of the Korean independence movement

Korean independence movement

The Korean independence movement grew out of the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. After the Japanese surrendered, Korea became independent; that day is now an annual holiday called Gwangbokjeol in South Korea, and Chogukhaebangŭi nal in North Korea.-Background:In...

.