Designing a dream in crayon
In 1986, I was a single working mother with one daughter, living in a Southern California beach town. My business partner invited me to visit his family at their Hawaiian vacation home. He had grown up in Kailua, Oahu, met his wife there, and his parents still lived just a few blocks away from his beachfront home. On that visit, he showed me an undeveloped acre of nearby beach property that was on the market.
One of my long-standing dreams had been to have a large family. Standing under the palms on this beautiful beach on Oahu, I envisioned a family compound where my children could spend summers and holidays, a place for special family celebrations where we would build a lifetime of memories. I made an offer to the seller. Back home in California, awaiting a response to my offer, I used a crayon on my daughter’s art table to sketch a draft of the layout of what would become my Oahu Lani.
After I bought the land, I presented my crayon drawings to a Hawaiian architect, and with his expertise and help my dream took shape. Lots of communal space for family to be together, plenty of private space to retreat, regroup, refresh. Windows everywhere to admit the glorious sunlight and watch the exotic Hawaiian rain. Views of the ocean from every room. A pool large enough for everyone at once. A lawn for midsummer heavens-gazing, and more...
A dream, a lifetime. For two...or eight…or more
Not long after this, I met the love of my life with whom I was to complete my dream of “having 6 or 8 kids.” Just as I’d hoped, Oahu Lani was woven into this dream from the start. We were married in this new home, and it became the backdrop for years of building our family and the wonderful memories we now enjoy.
Over the past twenty years, Oahu Lani had been the summer playground for our children, and the site of five “big one” celebrations (traditional Hawaiian “first birthday” parties), several corporate board retreats, family reunions and innumerable birthday parties.
In summer, and at other extended holidays, we’ve hosted dozens of friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws. Our friendships and relations grew deeper with our time together at Oahu Lani, and they were cherished times of horsing around, swimming , ball playing, or being quiet together, sharing a conversation, a card game, a story, a nap, or a song.
Excuse me, how long is the wait for a table for ten?
There were times when we vacationed elsewhere for one reason or another. These instances taught us more tangibly the advantages of having this big beach home. Condos and hotels just weren’t the same. Our big group, now numbering ten in just our family, had diverse interests, energy levels, activity needs and food preferences. Other vacations became “all about logistics”. Can we all get tickets on the same plane/train? Is there a rental car big enough for all of us, or how many cabs do we need? Can we get adjoining or even proximate condos or hotel suites? Where and when do we eat? How long is the wait for a table for ten? What activities should we do now, what later, and how do we all get there? The logistics of vacationing…exhausted us.
For activities and parties in our Hawaii home, it didn’t seem to matter when we’d add a dozen friends or relatives to join us. We already had systems and facilities for the large scale, and things worked. We had privacy when we wanted, but enough communal space to enjoy our children and friends. That was part of the magic. Whether some of us hiked, walked on the beach, boogey-boarded, did art projects or just read, we always had the best time. We didn’t all have to do the same thing. We could break into groups, then come back together, without anyone feeling compelled to go along, or ostracized for staying behind.
Another wonderful aspect of this home is the meals we’ve shared together over the years. We’re one big group, even when we needed four or more tables. Our wonderful dinners give us time to talk about the day or make plans for tomorrow. The only noise is ours; and the time and pace of the meal is ours. This is important if you have several in high chairs, or ten teenagers, or three generations, or all of the above.
Until recently, dinner was always at 5 pm. Young children need to eat early; and sometimes grandparents are more comfortable with an earlier dinner hour. In the last two years we’ve begun eating dinner after 6 pm. If we were in a hotel or a restaurant, our large party couldn’t easily get reservations after 6 pm, and would certainly not be lucky to be seated if we went out at that time spontaneously.
Bring your career with you
The power of Oahu Lani to bring the best out in people is perhaps most evident when you bring your work home with you. Let’s face it, our careers can often cause us to think too much inside the box or even forget that we are in one.
The first time we opened the doors of our home to the executives of a company, we had the entire board of directors as well as all their spouses and children. We ate, celebrated, swam and worked together as a group. The dining room became a board room. As a direct consequence, the company thrived as did the relationships that were forged here. We came back years later for retreats after we took the company public.
We repeated this many times. Sometimes we were a group from one company, sometimes we were a group from different companies trying to work together on a project or an acquisition. The change that happens at Oahu Lani is tangible. Whether it’s the comfort of family, friends, associates or food or an unrushed atmosphere along with the beauty of the surroundings, working in this environment is different, more so than other offsite locations I’ve been to. People welcome long hours of concentration followed by time to just relax and play.
Torture tested and impossible to outgrow
We have “torture tested” this multigenerational home with our extreme use. Our youngest is now ten years old. Our oldest three are twenty-something. They all still look forward to going to Oahu Lani. It’s really not possible to outgrow it. We are now at the stage where our “adult” children reveal their childhood adventures to us, and we keep hearing new stories of their childhood here in Kailua.
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When you book a vacation at Oahu Lani you also get the expertise, the setting, the surroundings that worked so well for our large family. Your family gets the benefit of our real life vacation experiences over the last twenty years as the “power users” of this home! We’re happy to share! The sheets and towels and pillows are our favorites, and our suggestions are the result of what we’ve tried and loved through the years. But perhaps the greatest thing that our Oahu Lani has to offer is the space, the time, the comfort, and the beautiful surroundings where you can come and just be with the ones you love or the ones you want to be with.
