There’s No House In The World Like This One In Hawaii
By Megan Shute|Published March 05, 2016
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
Often considered to be one of Hawaii’s most architecturally significant homes, Shangri La is an utterly enchanting Islamic-style mansion built in the late 1930s by heiress Doris Duke near Diamond Head just outside Honolulu, and overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Construction of the impressive home began in 1937, after Doris Duke’s 1935 honeymoon, which took her on a journey through the Islamic world and an extended stay in Hawaii.
Doris Duke was the daughter of a wealthy tobacco tycoon, and lived a life of global travel, art collecting, philanthropy, competitive surfing and even journalism and wildlife conservation.
Doris Duke found herself charmed by Hawaii and enchanted by Islamic art and architecture, and as a result, she designed her Hawaii home in collaboration with architect Marion Sims Wyeth to celebrate both of these passions.
For the next 60 years, Duke collected and commissioned artifacts for the home – and eventually formed an impressive collection of approximately 2,500 objects.
The five-acre complex is home to a 14,000-square foot home, pool, a playhouse that is a reduced-scale version of the Chehel Sotoun, a 17th century Iranian pavilion, comprising various interlocking spaces inside and out.
Outdoor landscaping blends the formality of an Indian Mughal garden and terraced water features with the intimacy and privacy of a Hawaiian fishpond and tropical garden.
The only way to visit the magnificent estate is through a tour with the Honolulu Museum of Art. The tours last about two and a half hours, including transportation to and from the Museum’s downtown campus.
Tours feature the public rooms of the main house and portions of the grounds, including the entry and central courtyards, foyer, Damascus room, Syrian room, Mughail Garden, Mihrab Room, and the upper lawn with views of the playhouse, pool and water terraces.
