Magnum Mania!

KENJI wrote:

Pahonu wrote:Nice RG!

Another definitive answer to our many questions.

I second that RG!
Enjoy your time off in Hawaii, you've been working a lot of overtime on MM and deserve a break!

Hi Pahonu,

Thanks for the reply! I agree with you that there are limited areas to install a tennis court on that property. I was just wondering if it was re-installed (now confirmed-thanks RG) in the exact same location or lets say i.e.... five feet one way or the other or even turned so the ends of the court face the properties on either side of Pahonu and not out to the road and sea....splitting hairs here, but it's interesting either way. I could see the court being rebuilt over that period of time especially so close to the ocean (damage caused from salt air, possibly a huge storm did damage to the original....I know the Shriner's Beach place suffered damage in a storm or two, heat, cracking etc.) I've seen many courts being resurfaced in less that 10 years of use, but that might be because they were asphalt and not concrete....even concrete after say 20 yrs is cracking and showing it's age...the original was built around 1933......hmmm I wonder when they removed the original and what was the playing surface material.....asphalt, concrete etc. and how many years was Pahonu without a tennis court? Calling RG!!! I know Barbara Cox (James Glover's wife/Eve's step-mother) enjoyed tennis, but just off the top of my head, I think it may have been Eve who brought it back to Pahonu (basing it on the Hawaii Five-0 timeline and not seeing it then)....either way, glad to see that it was reinstated. It's always interesting to discuss anything Pahonu!

It is fun discussing all these possibilities. The first tennis court might even have been grass or clay originally. Who knows? They certainly didn't have composite courts like today back in the 30's!

I've also been thinking lately about the construction methods used. Mrs. Wall didn't spare any expense, it seems. In RG's articles, it's described as fireproof and seems built to last. Hollow tile was used for the exterior walls (about a foot thick) likely filled with concrete and rebar. The tile roof would also be fireproof. The floors are described as concrete rather than wood joists. You can get a glimpse of this construction method in the stair hall, where part of the floor cantilevers out with barrel vaulted concrete beams under it. Also, the upstairs lanai over the arches cantilevers out about three feet and is concrete with shaped concrete brackets beneath. Two rear balconies are concrete and have vaulting under them as well. The balcony facing the drive and the one facing the ocean are wood, though. This means all the ceiling beams used in the living room, for example, are decorative not structural. Other spaces having beams, like the arched arcade, would follow suit. The stair hall ceiling is coffered wood, for example, and only decorative. Perhaps only the roof rafters are wood, and even then it's possible they are steel, to be fireproof, and sheathed in wood where exposed. As far as sparing no expense, the wood used in the construction is described as being redwood, which is definitely expensive, but more importantly durable in the salt air and other elements, and very resistant to termites which are a HUGE problem in Hawaii. Like I said, built to last! It's 85 years old and has had minimal upkeep for more than a decade so I think it is definitely a good candidate for restoration. Good bones, as someone said,

Hi Pahonu,

I agree, always fun to discuss anything Pahonu!
Yes, I was also mulling over the possibility of the court being clay or grass, but was thinking the close location to the ocean and the abundance of sand under it not to mention salt in the air might make maintaining such a court a little trickier and way more costly......i.e. great drainage with the sand, but it might need to be watered on a ongoing basis, not to mention mowing it, fertilizing, rolling, more mowing and then dealing with the potential for disease where the whole court could be lost....golf greens are high maintenance so I'm guessing a true grass court would be just as much work. I wouldn't rule it out, as Mrs. Wall did have the money to do whatever she wanted. Maybe she went this route or maybe she had a more basic grass court (standard grass & net and just for fun), but based on the rest of the build, it's probably not the case. I know that Maui has a few synthetic grass courts (no idea what the bounce would be like on one of those), but I can't think of one grass court in Hawaii today (does anyone know of one?), so I'm guessing it's not worth the hassle not to mention the expense ( today or back then) - a total guess. As for clay, I'm thining there was a better chance for clay than grass......BUT not convinced they went this route either.....again I think the drainage would've been good at Pahonu for clay, but I'm wondering if it was too good and caused issues with drying out the surface.....again, a complete guess. Like you said Pahonu......the courts were not the same back in the 30's as what we see today. If there is anyone out there who builds courts for a living please fill us in!!!

I vaguely remember reading a comment Eve made about Pahonu's construction and saying it was built to last and the stone used was very hard/solid she may have said blue stone.... I also remember one of the realtors mentioning the walls were quite thick and very solid which supports your comment about the bones being there and being built to last. I know Mrs. Wall's first house (closer to the Pali) burned down (built of wood) and was probably the reason Pahonu was made fireproof. I'm sure it wasn't completely fireproof, but within reason. My guess the rafters weren't steel, thinking of the exposure to the salt air and visually not as appealing as wood....but having said that, I do like your theory about the rafters being sheathed in wood....now that would've been really expensive and right up Mrs. Wall's alley! The use of just redwood sounds more correct though and like you said termite resistant, etc. which is definitely a problem over there. The concrete construction was well thought out for where they were building.....just imagine if it was all built out of wood.....I doubt it would still be standing.....thank goodness for deep pockets!!! Hey Pahonu, you mentioned the two balconies made of wood (ocean and driveway side).....I've been wondering about those for a while now.....your sheathing theory might've come into play with at least the joists/supports under those balconies or the redwood is actually cantilevered going inside the wall and beyond, making it structural and not fun to replace if they are rotten and not exposed on the inside of the building (i.e. hidden the ceiling)....if we could only get a quick look inside the place we could solve all of these mysteries and then some. I agree with you, Pahonu is a good candidate for restoration....long live Pahonu!

I'll comment on your gate house comment later...sorry for the delay! RG should be back from her trip to Hawaii soon and will probably have something to share as well.

Hey Kenji,

Interesting info about tennis court surfaces. I don't know a whole lot about it, other than grass was still pretty common until the 70's tennis craze. Apparently the US and Australian Open tournaments were still played on grass until the 70's, and Wimbledon still is of course.

I did a little research on fireproof construction and the hollow tile mentioned in the newspaper article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_clay_tile and http://historicbldgs.com/terra_cotta.htm It was common in the late 19th and early 20th century for fireproof construction. It has been largely replaced by modular concrete block today.

You may be right about the two wood balconies. Steel cantilevered joists sheathed in wood are not uncommon at all. They're protected from the weather by the sheathing as would be steel roof rafters. I don't really think Pahonu's roof rafters are steel, but it would be fireproof, along with the clay tile roof sheathing, and I have seen this type of construction. In the late 19th century, iron roof trusses covered with slate or tile were the common method of fireproofing a roof structure. They often hung the slates from purlins attached to the trusses by means of copper wire. This could last for more than a century! The reason I doubt Pahonu actually has this feature is the wood rafter tails that are exposed. They seem much too small to be sheathed steel. Fun to consider, none the less.

No worries about the gate house comments. All in time.

Hello guys,

I have been on Hawaii at the beginning of the month and of course a visit at the Robin Masters Estate (now that it's not the Anderson estate anymore, how do we properly name it?? Future Obama crib?) was on the agenda

Unfortunately I did not take my camera with me, but I caught a beautiful and sunny day (no clouds over the estate) and enjoyed swimming in the tidal pool for some time.

The trees and bushes have been heavily trimmed down at the waterfront - the view at the boathouse, tennis courts and the house itself has not been any better!

Is there anyone on the island soon, who can shoot and update pics! I can highly recommend visiting the place NOW.

Bondtoys.de wrote:Hello guys,

I have been on Hawaii at the beginning of the month and of course a visit at the Robin Masters Estate (now that it'Äs not the Anderson estate anymore, how do we properly name it?? Future Obama crib?) was on the agenda

Unfortunately I did not take my camera with me, but I caught a beautiful and sunny day (no clouds over the estate) and enjoyed swimming in the tidal pool for some time.

The trees and bushes have been heavily trimmed down at the waterfront - the view at the boathouse, tennis courts and the house itself has not been any better!

Is there anyone on the island soon, who can shoot and update pics! I can highly recommend visiting the place NOW.

Good to hear they trimmed the foliage on the beach side. BTW, I caught this video of a guy on a motorcycle trying to find the house. It is kind of funny as he keeps going past it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw6GvUGzoE0

Reviving this wonderful thread. I too have fallen in love with the estate. I have had a new separate building built on my property which is a two story structure. The bottom will be my cuemaking shop. The top will be mainly a game room with either a pool table or a snooker table, I’m an avid player of both, I just have to decide which I want more. I’m thinking of incorporating some TM guesthouse styles but not sure what I want to do yet. I’m a woodworker by trade so at least I have that going for me lol.
Suggestions?

Nikita70 wrote:Reviving this wonderful thread. I too have fallen in love with the estate. I have had a new separate building built on my property which is a two story structure. The bottom will be my cuemaking shop. The top will be mainly a game room with either a pool table or a snooker table, I’m an avid player of both, I just have to decide which I want more. I’m thinking of incorporating some TM guesthouse styles but not sure what I want to do yet. I’m a woodworker by trade so at least I have that going for me lol.
Suggestions?

- Rubber Chicken
- gorilla mask
- Gauguin painting
- wall mounted hat rack with ball caps

- Rubber Chicken
- gorilla mask
- Gauguin painting
- wall mounted hat rack with ball caps

Good, I like it. 3 things here are inexpensive. The painting...might have to be print

Styles Bitchley wrote:

Nikita70 wrote:Reviving this wonderful thread. I too have fallen in love with the estate. I have had a new separate building built on my property which is a two story structure. The bottom will be my cuemaking shop. The top will be mainly a game room with either a pool table or a snooker table, I’m an avid player of both, I just have to decide which I want more. I’m thinking of incorporating some TM guesthouse styles but not sure what I want to do yet. I’m a woodworker by trade so at least I have that going for me lol.
Suggestions?

- Rubber Chicken
- gorilla mask
- Gauguin painting
- wall mounted hat rack with ball caps

All of the above plus a hideaway kitchen.

If anyone has 1.9 Mil laying around here is an opportunity to own a piece of land so close to Robins Nest you can thow at seashell and hit it! https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/2 ... ct/15_zm/?

☨magnum.t wrote:If anyone has 1.9 Mil laying around here is an opportunity to own a piece of land so close to Robins Nest you can thow at seashell and hit it! https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/2 ... ct/15_zm/?

It even comes with a ready made, weathered Paradise sign....

I heard a rumor the Estate was for sale again, anyone hear anything about that?

ConchRepublican wrote:I heard a rumor the Estate was for sale again, anyone hear anything about that?

Wow......Wouldn't that be something.... I couldn't find anything on the Oahu Real Estate sites other than it looks like the property value has gone down a bit.....I say if any of us make it to the "Million Magnum March" this summer we pass a donation bucket around and see how much we can pool together....

I've been out of touch with the news of the Estate. But, Please don't say it is the Obama's. Please!

J.J. Walters wrote:I've been out of touch with the news of the Estate. But, Please don't say it is the Obama's. Please!

I'm thinking that if it was the property would be all back together by now. It sounds like it is a slow process rehabbing the property by who ever is in charge............