Robin's Nest |
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| Robin's Nest |
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| Estate Map |
The
real life setting for Robin's Nest, the beautiful oceanfront Hawaiian estate owned by millionaire pulp novelist Robin Masters on
Magnum P.I., can be found on the southeast coast of
Oahu at
41-505 Kalanianaole Highway (Lat: 21°19'29.66"N | Long: 157°40'47.68"W), between the small town of
Waimanalo Beach and
Sea Life Park. The property is known as the
Anderson Estate (and "Pahonu"). It has been owned for decades by former local politician Eve Glover Anderson. Eve is the step-daughter of
Cox Communications heiress Barbara Cox Anthony, the wealthiest Hawaiian resident until her death on May 28, 2007. The estate is a private residence, and therefore is not open to the public (sorry, there are no tours available either). However, visitors can freely walk on the beach, or swim in the tidal pool, as all beaches/ocean in Oahu are public property. Today, the Anderson Estate is
valued at well over 5 million dollars!
In
Magnum P.I.,
Robin's Nest is not located on the southeast coast of Oahu on Kalanianaole Highway, or near Waimanalo Beach. It's on the fictional road of "Kalakaua Kalakua Road", somewhere on the North Shore! This is in spite of the fact that we can often see
Rabbit Island in the background. Rabbit Island is nowhere near the North Shore! We also never see any waves breaking in the ocean! Luckily, the estate's general location was only referenced
four* times in the show, so the odd location setting didn't really present much of a problem. Still, the Ferrari must have racked up a lot of miles coming and going from the north side of the island to all of the action on the south side!
The Robin Masters Estate (usually referred to as simply "The Estate") in the show sits on
"200 acres .... from the mountains to the sea", including approximately fifty yards of beachfront property. A mountain range looms closely behind the estate, creating a stunning, beautiful, backdrop. The main compound of the property (what is seen in the show) sits on five acres and is surrounded by a unique lava rock wall on three sides (with an iron-gated entranceway) and a concrete sea wall on the ocean end. It is wired for security and features a large main house, a seperate guesthouse, stables (no animals), orchards, a caretaker's house (or gatehouse), a greenhouse, a private tennis court, a man-made tidal pool, and a secluded, semi-priviate beach.
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| Main House |
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| Gatehouse |
In the real world, the estate is
much smaller than it appears in the show. It is a "mere"
three acres in size! It's hard to see through all the foliage and the lava rock wall on the perimeter, but the estate actually sits very close to Kalanianaole Highway. The estate was built in the early 1930s and is comprised of a large, 8,921 sq. ft. Spanish Colonial Revival-style main house, a unique boathouse (with one bedroom, one full bath), a 1,880 sq. ft. gatehouse (with four bedrooms, two baths, and a two-car garage), a storage wing, a private tennis court, and, of course, the beach and tidal pool. The estate does not have stables or orchards. The boathouse was used as the exterior of the guesthouse (Magnum's quarters) in the show.
One of the highlights of the estate is the beautiful tidal pool, framed by a 500' by 50' stone wall (submerged at high tide, but visible at low tide). The enclosure is an ancient Hawaiian turtle pond known as
Pahonu Pond (Pahonu means "turtle enclosure" in Hawaiian). The original purpose of the pond was to house captured sea turtles for an
Ali'i (High Chief) that favored turtle meat. Turtle meat was kapu (forbidden) to all but the chiefs under penalty of death. The turtle pond (and rock wall) was restored in the 1960's and was added to the Hawaii Historical Register in 1978. Because of the ancient turtle pond, the Anderson Estate is also often referred as "Pahonu", a name that can be found on a plaque by the front gate.
One of the reasons the Anderson Estate was chosen to represent
Robin's Nest, in addition to its beauty and picturesque setting, is because it is located next to a piece of property (the Shriners Beach Club at 41-525 Kalanianaole Hwy) that had space for the production crew. The property was used as a temporary parking lot and staging area for the filming equipment.
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| Tidal Pool |
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| Ocean Side |
Virtually all of the indoor scenes of
Robin's Nest, namely the main house and the guesthouse scenes, were filmed at the
Hawaii Film Studio (also known as "
Five-O Stage"), located at
510 18th Avenue next to
Kapiolani Community College, at the foot of
Diamond Head crater. Outside of the semi-enclosed balconies of the guest and main house, there were only two scenes filmed completely
inside any of the buildings on the Eve Anderson estate. In the "
Pilot Movie", the estate's kitchen was used for a couple of brief scenes, and in "
Who is Don Luis Higgins?" (6.19) there is a scene where Tom finds Higgins bound and gagged inside a large shed. The "shed" was actually the real interior of the estate's boathouse, the guesthouse in the show!
The Anderson Estate has also been featured in several other television shows over the years, including
Hawaii Five-O ("
Forty Feet High and It Kills", "
Sweet Terror", "
The Second Shot", "
The Gunrunner", "
While You're at It, Bring in the Moon", "
Is This Any Way to Run a Paradise"
**, "
Cloth of Gold", "
You Don't Have to Kill to Get Rich, But It Helps", "
A Stranger in His Grave", and the series finale "
Woe to Wo Fat"),
Vega$ ("
Aloha, You're Dead"),
Charlie's Angels ("
Island Angels"),
Murder, She Wrote (the
Magnum P.I. crossover episode "
Magnum on Ice" & "
Death in Hawaii"), and
Simon & Simon (the
Magnum P.I. crossover episode "
Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend"). Go
here to see some high-quality
Hawaii Five-0 screen captures of the estate from several different episodes.
* "Italian Ice" (2.16), "Double Jeopardy" (2.19), "The Big Blow" (3.22) & "Unfinished Business" (8.8)
** Short, recycled scene from "Sweet Terror" only (McGarrett driving onto the estate and knocking on the front door).
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| Outdoor Patio |
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| Computer Room |
The large, L-shaped, two-story main house was built in 1933 and is a beautiful example of
Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture. The main house features a long, gorgeous second-floor balcony (with wrought iron railings), an architectural
arcade (with a succession of arches on one side), lava rock walls, a low-pitched, clay tile roof, a lawn courtyard (or patio), and numerous, wide projecting eaves. On the west side of the house, behind the driveway, there is a large, open-aired garage (or "maintenance wing").
This structure is primarily used to store landscaping materials and tools. All total, the main house features of total living area of just over 8,900 square feet, and features five bedrooms, five full baths, and two half baths. The main house also features a 900 sq. ft. unfinished basement.
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| Higgins' Study |
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| Upstairs Bedroom |
In the show, the main house presumably also has five bedrooms, including a large master bedroom. It also features a large living room, a spacious kitchen, an elegant dining room, a "servants wing", a darkroom, a greenhouse, a computer security room, a library, a laundry room, a sauna (never seen) and a study, or office. There also appears to be a number of smaller ante (or utility) rooms spread throughout the house. The basement features an extensive wine cellar. Again, all of the rooms seen in the show were filmed on a soundstage, not inside the real main house of the Anderson Estate (with the exception of the "Pilot Movie", where several scenes were shot inside the real main house).
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| Guesthouse |
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| Living Room |
The guesthouse (Magnum's quarters), like the main house, is a Spanish Colonial Revival-style design. It features stucco walls, a low-pitched, clay tile roof, and an elevated, oceanfront lanai. In the show, the guesthouse features a large main room with an extremely high ceiling and a bedroom with one full bath. The main room also contains a small kitchen, which is slightly elevated from the rest of the room. All exterior shots of the guesthouse were taken from the boathouse of the Anderson Estate.
The guesthouse in the show features a unique, slightly baffling, split-level design. In order to get inside the guesthouse, you have to walk up an
outdoor staircase, which leads you to a semi-enclosed lanai (porch). From the lanai, you enter the guesthouse via a door, then must descend back down an
indoor staircase that finally leads you to the main room of the guesthouse! This setup was necessary, because in reality the guesthouse is really a boathouse that features no real ground-level door.
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| Front |
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| Side |
The exact location of the guesthouse on the grounds of
Robin's Nest is a source of confusion for many people. As mentioned before, the "guesthouse" is actually a boathouse (adjacent to the ocean) and is located on the far north side of the property, behind the tennis court. In the show, often times you will see Magnum coming and going to and from the guesthouse by way of a "
portico" (a covered pasageway) that is close to the main house at the end of the driveway. This is in the exact opposite direction of the guesthouse/boathouse, on the complete other side of the estate! This setup makes for some confusing shots and cutaways if you know where the real boathouse is located.
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