How a 6,000-Square-Foot Home in Makiki Ended Up as Part of a Mililani Estate

Alan Davis packed up this house and took it with him. Now, the property it’s on is listed for $13 million.

February 22, 2019

Rachel Ross Bradley,

Photos: courtesy of List Sotheby’s International Realty

Every property has a story, and it seems the biggest ones have the biggest tales. Take Luka Pila, a 128-acre Mililani agricultural estate that includes five structures, with the main residence placed carefully on the highest point overlooking gullies, meadows and forest as far as the eye can see.

We say “placed” because it didn’t start out there. The nearly 6,000-square-foot home was originally built at 1001 Wilder Ave. in Makiki, on a 3-acre parcel. In the late 1940s, after losing his Hawai‘i Kai home to a tsunami, Alan Sanborn Davis remodeled the Makiki home with the guidance of famed architect Albert Ely Ives. In the mid-1960s, Davis decided the site was better suited for an apartment, and that he preferred country living anyway, so he bought 128 acres from an aunt in the Mililani/Waipi‘o area and moved his home there. If his name sounds familiar, it’s likely because he was a Campbell Estate trustee and C. Brewer executive with a large chunk of rugged East O‘ahu shoreline named after him.

You’d never know that this gorgeous house was once cut into four pieces and transported from Makiki. The home has been kept beautifully up-to-date over the years, all the while keeping its midcentury Hawai‘i style. With oversized windows to capture the views, a cozy flagstone fireplace for cool nights, ‘ōhi‘a and oak floors, and high ceilings throughout, it feels like a step back in time that starts when you drive through the wrought-iron gates.

For $13 million, the price of some Kaka‘ako condos, you also get three charming guest cottages, a caretaker’s residence and a barn as well, for a total of 13,426 square feet of interior living space. About a quarter of the land is zoned for agriculture, and the rest, filled with hiking trails, is for preservation. On the ag land, there are fruit trees galore, including a large lychee orchard and mango trees.

The area is unlikely to become another Mililani subdivision, as access to the property is via an easement that is 25 feet wide. It would need to be at least 40 feet wide to develop the property, which would require renegotiation of the easement. We sure hope it stays just like it is.

92-1202 Kapanoe St. Listed by List Sotheby’s International Realty and Elite Pacific Properties.