Coffee in Hanalei In 1842, Englishman Godfrey Rhodes began planting coffee in Hanalei Valley on land he’d leased from the Hawaiian government, and by 1846, his coffee plantation covered 750 acres. Rhodes’ mill was situated low on the hillside
Coffee in Hanalei
In 1842, Englishman Godfrey Rhodes began planting coffee in Hanalei Valley on land he’d leased from the Hawaiian government, and by 1846, his coffee plantation covered 750 acres.
Rhodes’ mill was situated low on the hillside a short distance east of and just above the site of the Hanalei Bridge, which was not erected until 1912.
He also built a cozy, thick-walled stone house by his mill he named Kikiula.
Before the present road into Hanalei Valley was built, a steep, winding switchback road descended downhill into the valley and passed by Kikiula before entering the valley floor at a scow crossing, which was located just upriver of where the bridge was later built.
About 1847, German-born Gottfried Wundenberg built a small wooden house at Limanui across the river from Rhodes’ coffee mill, subleased land from Rhodes and planted potatoes and coffee.
When Rhodes sold out to Robert Crichton Wyllie in 1855, Wundenberg became Wyllie’s plantation manager. Wundenberg then moved into Kikiula with his family, attached a clapboard building to it, built a lathed and plastered top story and painted the house white and the roof red.
King Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma, young Prince Albert and his nurse, Madame Namakeha, who would later become Queen Kapiolani, were guests of the Wundenbergs at Kikiula for over two weeks during their visit to Kaua‘i in 1860. Soon after the royal party returned to Honolulu, Wyllie renamed his plantation Princeville to honor the prince.
In 1863, Wundenberg and his family left Kikiula and moved to Honolulu.
Kikiula then became home to a succession of plantation and ranch managers and several buildings occupied the area. Kikiula was later known as Princeville Plantation House, then Princeville Ranch House.
What ruins of Kikiula and its outbuildings that may now exist are hidden beneath dense vegetation.
