1821 Frame House | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 18, 2024 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Prefab Construction in Hawaiʻi

The 1821 Frame House at Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives was one of Hawaiʻi’s early prefab houses. They precut the lumber on the continent, then delivered it to Hawaiʻi and erected the house. It’s still there.

The timbers of Maine white pine were cut and fitted in Boston in 1819 and came around the Horn on the brig Thaddeus with the Pioneer Company in April 1820, arriving first in Kona. The frame of the house arrived in Honolulu on Christmas morning of that year on board the ship Tartar.

Construction of the house wasn’t necessarily smooth – it was some weeks before the King would permit its erection. Construction did not begin until April, and the frame had by that time been injured by exposure to the tropical sun.

The boards for the roof could not be found, and it was concluded that they were never put aboard ship. Other lumber had been damaged enroute, and some was stolen after arrival at Honolulu. The balance had to be eked out by boards purchased locally.

During the shingling, the scaffolding collapsed, injuring one of the men. The siding of rough feather-edged boards proved leaky, and attempts were made to stop the cracks with rags soaked in tar. (Mission Houses; Peterson)

The Frame House was used as a communal home by many missionary families who shared it with island visitors and boarders. It is the oldest wood frame structure still standing in the Hawaiian Islands.

It wasn’t until the California Gold Rush (1848) that prefab housing started to really catch on, on the West coast of the continent and elsewhere.

As news spread of the discovery, thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by sea or over land to San Francisco and the surrounding area; by the end of 1849, the non-native population of the California territory was some 100,000 (compared with the pre-1848 figure of less than 1,000.) They needed places to stay.

Ralph Waldo Emerson noted the gold seekers brought ‘framed houses’ with them, “Suddenly the Californian soil is spangled with a little gold-dust here and there in a mill … the news flies here and there, to New York, to Maine, to London, and an army of a hundred thousand picked volunteers”.

“(T)he ablest and keenest and boldest that could be collected, instantly organize and embark for this desart, bringing tools, instruments, books, and framed houses, with them. Such a well-appointed colony as never was planted before arrive with the speed of sail and steam on these remote shores, bringing with them the necessity that the government”. (Emerson, 1849)

Framed houses were also an early article of overseas trade, and before long the American colonies, in their turn, were making and shipping houses to the Caribbean sugar islands. After that both Europe and our Eastern Seaboard produced them for the settlement of Australia and California.

At the height of the Gold Rush in 1849 port cities around the world were sending large numbers of buildings to San Francisco. Hawaiʻi – and especially Honolulu – was soon to share them. (Peterson)

The Polynesian notes, “A New Article in Commerce. From all parts of the world we hear that HOUSES, in perfect order to be set up in a short time, are being constructed for California. From the humble wooden tenement of a single room, to immense iron and framed buildings of three stories”.

“Belgium, France, England, the British Colonies the South American States and China, are all sending their quota … from New York and immediate vicinity alone, 5,000 houses have been … shipped for El Dorado.” (Polynesian, March 2, 1850)

A century later, the Islands saw the proliferation of ‘pre-designed’ homes built by Harold Hicks. In 1949, Hicks brought his family to the Islands and started his own residential construction company in the laundry room of his house.

Hicks designed and built homes for the ‘First Time Buyer,’ as well as for subdivision developers. He wanted to offer affordable homes to the working families of the islands and would build one home or 100 at a time. (BIA)

One dozen efficient model home designs offered the homeowners a range of flexibility in bedrooms and bathrooms. Sizes ranged from a one-bedroom 576-SF model to a four-bedroom 1,208-SF home.

Consistent features in a Hicks’ home include clear heart redwood interior and exterior single walls, oak flooring and jalousie windows … and the white roof (no matter the model or square footage, the roof was always white.)

Hicks wanted his customers to be able to “select a home model just as a shopper could select items in a department store”. Since 1950, 17,000 Hicks homes have been built in the islands and the working families of Hawaiʻi have experienced their homes for generations. (BIA)

December 21, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1821

Napoleon I, French Napoléon Bonaparte, original Italian Napoleone Buonaparte, byname the Corsican or the Little Corporal, French byname Le Corse or Le Petit Caporal, (born August 15, 1769, Ajaccio, Corsica—died May 5, 1821, St. Helena Island), French general, first consul (1799–1804), and emperor of the French (1804–1814/15), one of the most celebrated personages in the history of the West.

He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code, the prototype of later civil-law codes; reorganized education; and established the long-lived Concordat with the papacy. (Britannica)

After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. Shrewd, ambitious and a skilled military strategist, Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire.

After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances.

However, after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two years later and was exiled to the island of Elba.

In 1815, he briefly returned to power in his Hundred Days campaign. After a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated once again and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena. (History-com)

Napoleon Bonaparte died (apparently of stomach cancer) at 5:49pm on May 5, 1821, at Longwood on the island of Saint Helena.

Napoleon’s rise and prominence in power was concurrent with George Washington, and … Kamehameha.

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)

The first president of the United States, George Washington, serving from 1789 to 1797, is often referred to as the Father of Our Country.

He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783.

After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to the emerging American political ideology of republicanism. Washington was elected as the first president in 1789, and re-elected 1792.

Dissatisfied with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation, in 1787, Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution.

Kamehameha I (ca. 1758 – May 8, 1819)

Kamehameha was initially known as Paiʻea, which means “hard-shelled crab;” Kamehameha means “The Lonely One.” Raised in the royal court of his uncle, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kamehameha achieved prominence in 1782, upon Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death.

While the kingship was inherited by Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s son Kiwalaʻo, Kamehameha was given the prominent position of guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

In 1785, Kamehameha married Ka‘ahumanu, the daughter of one of his most trusted advisors. In 1790, he attained control of Hawai‘i Island, then he successfully invaded the Islands of Maui, Lāna‘i, Molokai and O‘ahu, by 1795.

Ultimately, in 1810, Kauai’s Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully yield and unite with Kamehameha and join the rest of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

Kamehameha instituted the Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle. The law, “Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety,” is enshrined in the state constitution, Article 9, Section 10, and has become a model for modern human rights law regarding the treatment of civilians and other non-combatants.

In the Islands …

1821 Wood Frame House

The wood-framed Mission House, built in 1821, was one of the first wood-framed buildings built in Hawai‘i. The frame house stands on the grounds of the Hawaiian Mission Houses, near Kawaiahaʻo Church on the makai side of King Street.

It is the oldest wood frame structure and the oldest intact Western structure still standing in the Hawaiian Islands.

The timbers of Maine white pine were cut and fitted in Boston in 1819 and came around the Horn on the brig Thaddeus with the first mission company in April 1820, arriving first in Kona. The frame of the house arrived in Honolulu on Christmas morning of that year on board the ship Tartar.

Since the lumber for this New England plan type was actually pre-cut prior to shipment, it could also be considered in a broad sense a very early example of prefabrication.

Architecturally, it has a simple and straight-forward design; the relatively low ceilings, and basement are strong evidence of its New England concept, foreign to the temperate climate of Honolulu.

The Frame House was used as a communal home by many missionary families who shared it with island visitors and boarders. It served as a residence for various missionaries, including Hiram Bingham, Gerrit Parmele Judd and Elisha Loomis.

Today the frame house is maintained by the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society as a memorial to the early missionary effort in the Hawaiian Islands.

Liholiho Moves Royal Center from Kailua-Kona to Honolulu

Early in 1821, Liholiho moved his court from Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i Island to Honolulu. The royal siblings, Kauikeaouli and Nahiʻenaʻena, together with their mother, Keōpūolani and her husband Hoapili, journeyed with the chiefs to Oʻahu.

As was traditional, one of the first acts of the new mōʻī was to make a royal progression around Oʻahu to visit the people. Lilholiho’s selected route took him from Honolulu through the Koʻolau region to Waialua to “enjoy the fat mullet of Ukoʻa and to catch aholehole fish” and then by way of “Kaʻena point to Waiʻanae and then to Honolulu.” He then went to Kauai (McGregor and MacKenzie)

Liholiho Buys Cleopatra’s Barge for 1-million Pounds of Sandalwood

In the central Pacific, practically every vessel that visited the North Pacific in the closing years of the 18th century stopped at Hawai‘i for provisions and recreation; then, the opening years of the 19th century saw the sandalwood business became a recognized branch of trade.

Sandalwood, geography and fresh provisions made the Islands a vital link in a closely articulated trade route between Boston, the Northwest Coast and Canton, China.

At the same time, the Hawaiian demand for American goods was rapidly increasing, owing to the improved standards of living. The central location of the Hawaiian Islands brought many traders, and then whalers, to the Islands.

For a while, sandalwood was a medium of exchange in the Islands.

A boat named Cleopatra’s Barge arrived at Lāhainā, Maui, on November 6, 1820; the very next day Liholiho (Kamehameha II) was welcomed aboard along with some family members and attendants.

Liholiho’s father Kamehameha had loved foreign ships; over time he had collected a sizable ﬂeet of Western vessels, which, with guns and training by the foreigners, were a major asset in unifying and maintaining his kingdom across the islands.

Liholiho inherited his father’s love of ships; one of his childhood companions remembered seeing Liholiho frequently sailing a boat model “like a real man-of-war” on a pond and also recalled that their favorite boyhood pastime was drawing ships in the sand at the beach.

Just ten days after his ﬁrst visit to the ship, Liholiho purchased Cleopatra’s Barge and her cargo for 1.07-million pounds of sandalwood, worth $80,000 at the time.

On January 4, 1821, King Liholiho took formal possession of Cleopatra’s Barge, appointing his personal secretary, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Rives, as temporary captain.

Liholiho then renamed the yacht ‘Ha‘aheo O Hawai‘i’ (Pride of Hawaiʻi.)

November 19, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawai‘i’s Two Oldest Houses

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives is on an acre of land in the middle of downtown Honolulu. It includes Hawai‘i’s two oldest houses, the 1821 Mission House (wood frame) and the 1831 Chamberlain House (coral block) (an 1841 bedroom annex interpreted as the Print Shop).

In addition, the site has the Mission Memorial Cemetery, and a building which houses collections and archives, a reading room, a visitors’ store, and staff offices. A coral and grass stage, Kahua Ho‘okipa, was added in 2011. This was the headquarters for the American protestant Sandwich Island Mission. Across King Street is the red brick Mission Memorial Building 1915.

In addition to the buildings which are part of the collection, the Mission Houses object collection contains over 7,500 artifacts, including furniture, quilts, bark cloth, paintings, ceramics, clothing, and jewelry.

The archival collections include more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations, and Hawaiian church records. Mission Houses owns the largest collection of Hawaiian language books in the world, and the second largest collection of letters written by the ali‘i.

The size and scope of these collections make Hawaiian Mission Houses one of the foremost repositories for nineteenth century Hawaiian history. The archives, English and Hawaiian, are available on site and online. Together, these activities enrich our community “by fostering thoughtful dialogue and greater understanding of the missionary role in the history of Hawaiʻi.” (Mission Houses’ Vision Statement)

Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, a 501(c)3 non-profit educational institution, founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1907, acquired the 1821 Mission House in 1906, restored and opened it in 1908.

1821 Wood Frame House

It is the oldest wood frame structure still standing in the Hawaiian Islands.

Since the lumber for this New England plan type was actually pre-cut prior to shipment, it could also be considered in a broad sense a very early example of prefabrication.

Architecturally, it has a simple and straight-forward design; the relatively low ceilings, and basement are strong evidence of its New England concept, foreign to the temperate climate of Honolulu. It has two stories plus a basement and measures about 40-feet in length and 24-feet in width, excluding the kitchen wing (which extends the basic rectangular plan on the right rear (Ewa-makai) by about 20-feet.) The overall height is just over 23½ feet.

The foundation wall is about a foot thick, except on the Waikīkī side where it becomes an average of almost 2-feet (where a now-demolished wing once stood.) The basement walls are adobe brick set in a mud mortar.

In 1904, several contractors were called in to examine the building which was found to be so badly eaten by insects it was considered beyond repair. After considerable study extensive repairs were undertaken to restore the house to its original appearance.

In 1925, the premises were again inspected and again extensive insect damage was found. By 1935, the house was completely renovated and restored. Since 1935, various minor repairs such as repainting and some plastering have been undertaken.

Today the frame house is maintained by the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society as a memorial to the early missionary effort in the Hawaiian Islands.

Furniture and other articles of the first mission families are displayed in the house, together with photographs of the men and women who lived and worked there.

1831 Coral Construction Chamberlain House

Hawaiian architecture evolved over time, starting with Hawaiians use of natural resources, to influences from all of the various visitors to Hawaiʻi. Soon after missionary arrival, builders began to incorporate coral blocks from Hawaiʻi’s reefs, with the coral serving as a substitute for bricks the American and Europeans used in their homeland.

The second oldest home in the Islands is referred to as the ‘Chamberlain House’. Started in 1830, the Chamberlain House is one of the early masonry houses constructed on O‘ahu.

Mr. Levi Chamberlain, business agent for the Sandwich Island Mission and member of the Second Company, built the structure to provide storage space for the goods of the mission and living quarters for his family.

Upon completion of the building in December of 1831, Chamberlain’s family moved into three rooms on the lower level. In 1910, the Mission Children’s Society acquired ownership of the house.

The building was made of coral blocks cut away from the ocean reef, which were dried and bleached by the sun. These blocks were arranged and assembled to build the Chamberlain House.

In getting the coral, “When the tide was low, the men would pray as they entered the water, and they would pray again on exiting. They carried tools, mamaki with koa for long handles, and the ‘ō‘ō, a metal rifle barrel pounded to a sharp point inserted over a wooden shaft. “

“Tools were made by the men themselves to gouge out of the reef blocks of coral … The blocks were hoisted onto canoes and paddled ashore, where they were shaped with special tools. They also practiced breathing and would take turns diving, going to depths of no more than fifteen to twenty feet, or it became too hard to hammer. When they did this at night it looked like torch fishing.” (Cheever)

In his June 1, 1830 journal entry, Levi Chamberlain recorded the following entry: “Walked down to the sea where the natives were cutting the coral stone for my building. The coral forms the surface of the whole flats; it is in thicknesses from three to four inches to about twelve inches; the natives cut it the right width and pry it up with levers. The work of getting it resembles cutting up the surface of a pond frozen over.” (Chamberlain)

Hale Pili o Na Mikanele

The wood frame and coral houses were actually subsequent homes of the missionaries. When they first arrived, and generally the first home for most companies, were hale pili, just like the homes of the Hawaiians.

“(The frame of) the building assumes the appearance of a huge, rude bird cage. It is then covered with the leaf of the ki, pandanus, sugarcane, or more commonly (as in the case of the habitations for us) with grass bound on in small bundles, side by side, one tier overlapping another, like shingles.”

“A house thus thatched assumes the appearance of a long hay stack without, and a cage in a hay mow within. The area or ground within, is raised a little with earth, to prevent the influx of water, and spread with grass and mats, answering usually instead of floors, tables, chairs, sofas, and beds.”

“Such was the habitation of the Hawaiian, – the monarch, chief, and landlord, the farmer, fisherman, and cloth-beating widow, – a tent of poles and thatch-a rude attic, of one apartment on the ground-a shelter for the father, mother, larger and smaller children, friends and servants.” (Hiram Bingham)

“The Hawaiian mode of building habitations was, in a measure, ingenious, and when their work was carefully executed, it was adapted to the taste of a dark, rude tribe, subsisting on roots, fish, and fruits, but by no means sufficient to meet their necessities, even in their mild climate.” (Hiram Bingham)

As part of the expanding interpretive plans at Hawaiian Mission Houses, a hale pili will be constructed near the 1821 wood frame house. The reconstructed hale pili will not use pili grass for the covering; instead a fire-retardant thatch panel will be used (it is situated next to the oldest wood frame house in the Islands.)

The proposed Richard’s hale pili will be reproduction of a hale that Boki ordered built for the new missionaries arriving as the Second Company in 1823. The hale represents a bridge between cultures and represents support given to the missionaries by the host culture, and the cooperative relationship that existed between the chiefs and the missionaries.

Clarissa Richards dimensioned her house with “one room – 22 feet long and 12 feet wide” with a height of “12 feet from the ground to the ridge pole. … (It) had three windows, or rather holes cut through the thatching with close wooden shutters.” The door was “too small to admit a person walking in without stooping.” (Betsey Stockton)

This is only a summary; click HERE to read more.

MISSION HOUSES-drawing by James P. Chamberlain-(LOC)-ca 1860)

L2R Ellis, Richards & Stewart-Stockton; Frame House-Kawaiahao

OLD MISSION HOUSES (Frame House to the left- Chamberlain House to the right), ca 1883

SOUTH ROOM, FIRST FLOOR, REAR WALL, SHOWING FIREPLACE AND DUTCH DOOR – Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966

EAST ROOM, SECOND FLOOR – Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966

MIDDLE BEDROOM, SECOND FLOOR – Mission Frame House-(LOC)-1966

Mission_Houses-Frame-House

Mission Houses-PP-13-1-001-00001

Mission_Houses-1944

EAST REAR AND NORTH SIDE – Chamberlain House-(LOC)-1902

Chamberlain House-Cross Section

Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili

Hawaiian Mission Houses -Hale Pili-June 5, 2018

November 29, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Timeline Tuesday … 1820s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1820s – arrival of the missionaries (Protestant & Catholic,) death of Keōpūolani, Liholiho and Kamāmalu. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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