The grass house on exhibit in Honolulu’s Bishop Museum — the only authentic Hawaiian grass house in existence — was built at the museum in 1902 with posts and rafters made of naio, kauila and uhiuhi wood taken from an
The grass house on exhibit in Honolulu’s Bishop Museum — the only authentic Hawaiian grass house in existence — was built at the museum in 1902 with posts and rafters made of naio, kauila and uhiuhi wood taken from an abandoned house located in Miloli‘i Valley, Kaua‘i, that had been built with stone tools prior to 1800.
Other native building materials needed to construct the house were obtained on Kaua‘i at Kalalau, Hanakapi‘ai, Haena, Hanalei, Kealia, Kapa‘a, Lihu‘e, Waimea and Kekaha, and also from the Big Island. Over the years since 1902, several repairs were made and the house was restored in 2008.
William Brigham, director of Bishop Museum from 1898 to 1920, conceived the idea of displaying a grass house in the museum, and William Deverill of Hanalei was indispensable in procuring building materials.
In 1900, after Brigham received permission from Eric Knudsen, manager of Valdemar Knudsen Estate, which owned Miloli‘i Valley, to remove the frame of the abandoned house, Deverill shipped its 20 posts and rafters to Honolulu aboard the “Waialua.”
Deverill also obtained pili grass thatching from Mr. Brandt of Waimea in 1901 that was transported to Honolulu on the “Iwalani,” while hundreds of lama wood sticks, upon which the pili grass would be tied, were taken by Deverill’s workmen around Hanakapi‘ai, hauled out and sent to Honolulu from Haena on the “Malolo.” Ukiuki leaves, used to make cordage, were obtained on the Big Island by Keawe, the man charged with building the house.
Keawe also procured additional pili grass and competed its construction in 1902.
During restoration in 2008, pili grass, ukiuki leaves and scraps of ukiuki wood were gathered from throughout Hawai‘i with difficulty due to their scarcity, and Pomaikai Kaniaupio-Crozier, knowledgeable of building a traditional grass house, ensured authenticity.
