Magnum Reboot CANCELED

[ConchRepublican]

There is actually a decent beach at Pahonu pond/Robin Master's estate now. So I'd have a hard time convincing the Obama's I need to come inside the property to recover from a floundering swim
I'd really like to know what they did to Magnums' guest house though. I wonder if its really a quest house now?

They couldn't very well toss you back if you were struggling on all fours up onto their beach, robicurp.

I was thinking back to the summer of 5th grade when my family took the tour of Abe Lincoln's family home in Springfield, Illinois(fantastic, if one is anywhere near you should go).
I hung to the back of the tour group which moved on to another room, and sat on his black horsehair couch, it was in the open without a velvet rope around the area.
I know it was wrong but Abe was born on my birthday, he was my hero and I had read up on him since 1st grade. All I kept thinking was he had sat on it and here opportunity beckoned
with it's siren call an until now innocent me.
So I succumbed for a fast 3 seconds, it's not like I sprawled on it and read a newspaper. Sometimes you just have to take a chance.

So I gotta tell you, I LOVE Magnum PI and if I was swimming off the estate this fan would just have to hit the beach even if the reception was akin to D-Day.
Which I doubt if I faked distress and was obviously not a danger with just a bathing suit on. At worst they might give you a wedgie and send you on your way.

No use taking chances though, maybe we can talk Terry from Kerry, Ivan and Pahonu from these boards to give it a go and let us know the results.
They're good sports, after all.

No need to "storm" any beaches there, Dobe. Just like the tidal pool, the beach is public property. They can't kick you out if you want to lay on the sand or build sand castles or run around in your birthday suit. Now, if you climb over the wall and decide to lay on their lawn that's a different story. But I'm not sure how much beach there is left anymore. All the pics I've seen the water comes all the way up to the wall. No visible sand or beach in those pics. And when I took a dip there in 2018 the water was against the wall too. The only bit of sand that was exposed was around the rear steps that lead to the rear gate (as seen at the start of the pilot episode where Magnum sneaks onto the estate grounds). Of course I recreated that iconic swim and creep along that curved wall and up those steps to the rear gate. But that's as far as I got. In any case, there was virtually no beach left when I was there. It's all submerged. And that curved wall that went inward and those steps that you could run up to the rear gate are no longer there either. It's all now a solid straight wall from one end of the property to the other. So you can't recreate that iconic Magnum moment. You can have fun swimming up to the wall but that's probably about it. But who knows? Maybe at extremely low tide there is sand exposed and you can have the beach all to yourself. No one can kick you out.

The plans that were approved only called for eliminating the gate at the boathouse. They also raised the walls in certain places, but the curved walls to the steps were to remain. I can’t imagine they would eliminate this entirely as it’s a huge asset. The Shriners’ property next door does it differently, as it’s much taller, but still has beach access. That’s the primary value of the property. In some construction photos I saw, there was some sand still, I’m guessing only at low tide, but it was sand. I’m going to look for some recent photos.

Edit:
I found something better, a video.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g77FlYMeld0

The construction is not fully finished in the clip, but the sea walls and houses are all done. It looks as though hardscaping and softscaping remain to be done. The changes to the sea wall are what the plans specified and I stated above. The part by the old main house hasn’t changed shape at all, but was reinforced from behind and looks better than before, without the cracks and rust stains from the chainlink fencing.

The section by the boathouse has risen considerably and it was the lowest section originally. The biggest change, of course is the lack of the gate. The middle section has also risen but less so. The biggest change here is the elimination of the benches from this section, the only part that had them, and the newest section of wall.

Remember, that when Mrs. Wall assembled the various properties for the estate, the two sea walls at either end were already existing and the one by the boathouse had a pier connected to it. The middle area was a large swale that drained storm water from the highway to the ocean. It was the lowest point on the property. This is why the property has an easement underneath it and a storm drain exit near the beach steps.

Some final thoughts, the new houses are much further back now based on new codes addressing sea level rise, though there still is quite a bit of sand shown. Also, the winding and very odd shape of the wall, because of its cobbled together nature, has remained. The footprint from above has not been altered in any way other than the boathouse gate being eliminated. So, I suspect at the right time of day, one might be able to recreate the opening scene pretty closely, as you did. There’s no where to sit and have flashbacks to Vietnam though.

Edit 2:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xN_VgTj1eUc

Here’s a video of the sea wall up close before it was refurbished. Damn it was in BAD shape! Worse than I remembered. According to the realtor, the main house was in even worse condition. That’s why there were no tours inside of it when it was listed for sale.

Even with the alterations to the sea walls, the future repair of the boathouse, will still provide a beautiful view over the raised seawall from the covered terrace. They can’t make major alterations to it by code because of its proximity to the beach. That’s nice to know. It will also still provide storage underneath, likely for aquatic activities, so its original function remains, though not quite as conveniently located by a direct gate to the sand.

I now wonder about the gatehouse’s future. It also can’t be significant altered by code because of its proximity to the highway. Its original function was to house five servants. It was later remodeled to function more like an actual guesthouse, by eliminating at least one bedroom to enlarge the living space downstairs. Perhaps it will be an actual guesthouse, something Pahonu never had, or an office area for Secret Service, or even a place for a caretaker when it’s not being occupied… as in Higgy-baby!

Sorry this got so long as I pondered!

Thank you for sharing those videos!

It's sad to see what has happened to the Estate ... if I didn't know I wouldn't know that's where the show was filmed. It's a shame they didn't try and keep the ambience of the original. To buy something for what it was and change it into something else is just wrong.

[Pahonu]

There is actually a decent beach at Pahonu pond/Robin Master's estate now. So I'd have a hard time convincing the Obama's I need to come inside the property to recover from a floundering swim
I'd really like to know what they did to Magnums' guest house though. I wonder if its really a quest house now?

They couldn't very well toss you back if you were struggling on all fours up onto their beach, robicurp.

I was thinking back to the summer of 5th grade when my family took the tour of Abe Lincoln's family home in Springfield, Illinois(fantastic, if one is anywhere near you should go).
I hung to the back of the tour group which moved on to another room, and sat on his black horsehair couch, it was in the open without a velvet rope around the area.
I know it was wrong but Abe was born on my birthday, he was my hero and I had read up on him since 1st grade. All I kept thinking was he had sat on it and here opportunity beckoned
with it's siren call an until now innocent me.
So I succumbed for a fast 3 seconds, it's not like I sprawled on it and read a newspaper. Sometimes you just have to take a chance.

So I gotta tell you, I LOVE Magnum PI and if I was swimming off the estate this fan would just have to hit the beach even if the reception was akin to D-Day.
Which I doubt if I faked distress and was obviously not a danger with just a bathing suit on. At worst they might give you a wedgie and send you on your way.

No use taking chances though, maybe we can talk Terry from Kerry, Ivan and Pahonu from these boards to give it a go and let us know the results.
They're good sports, after all.

No need to "storm" any beaches there, Dobe. Just like the tidal pool, the beach is public property. They can't kick you out if you want to lay on the sand or build sand castles or run around in your birthday suit. Now, if you climb over the wall and decide to lay on their lawn that's a different story. But I'm not sure how much beach there is left anymore. All the pics I've seen the water comes all the way up to the wall. No visible sand or beach in those pics. And when I took a dip there in 2018 the water was against the wall too. The only bit of sand that was exposed was around the rear steps that lead to the rear gate (as seen at the start of the pilot episode where Magnum sneaks onto the estate grounds). Of course I recreated that iconic swim and creep along that curved wall and up those steps to the rear gate. But that's as far as I got. In any case, there was virtually no beach left when I was there. It's all submerged. And that curved wall that went inward and those steps that you could run up to the rear gate are no longer there either. It's all now a solid straight wall from one end of the property to the other. So you can't recreate that iconic Magnum moment. You can have fun swimming up to the wall but that's probably about it. But who knows? Maybe at extremely low tide there is sand exposed and you can have the beach all to yourself. No one can kick you out.

The plans that were approved only called for eliminating the gate at the boathouse. They also raised the walls in certain places, but the curved walls to the steps were to remain. I can’t imagine they would eliminate this entirely as it’s a huge asset. The Shriners’ property next door does it differently, as it’s much taller, but still has beach access. That’s the primary value of the property. In some construction photos I saw, there was some sand still, I’m guessing only at low tide, but it was sand. I’m going to look for some recent photos.

Edit:
I found something better, a video.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g77FlYMeld0

The construction is not fully finished in the clip, but the sea walls and houses are all done. It looks as though hardscaping and softscaping remain to be done. The changes to the sea wall are what the plans specified and I stated above. The part by the old main house hasn’t changed shape at all, but was reinforced from behind and looks better than before, without the cracks and rust stains from the chainlink fencing.

The section by the boathouse has risen considerably and it was the lowest section originally. The biggest change, of course is the lack of the gate. The middle section has also risen but less so. The biggest change here is the elimination of the benches from this section, the only part that had them, and the newest section of wall.

Remember, that when Mrs. Wall assembled the various properties for the estate, the two sea walls at either end were already existing and the one by the boathouse had a pier connected to it. The middle area was a large swale that drained storm water from the highway to the ocean. It was the lowest point on the property. This is why the property has an easement underneath it and a storm drain exit near the beach steps.

Some final thoughts, the new houses are much further back now based on new codes addressing sea level rise, though there still is quite a bit of sand shown. Also, the winding and very odd shape of the wall, because of its cobbled together nature, has remained. The footprint from above has not been altered in any way other than the boathouse gate being eliminated. So, I suspect at the right time of day, one might be able to recreate the opening scene pretty closely, as you did. There’s no where to sit and have flashbacks to Vietnam though.

Edit 2:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xN_VgTj1eUc

Here’s a video of the sea wall up close before it was refurbished. Damn it was in BAD shape! Worse than I remembered. According to the realtor, the main house was in even worse condition. That’s why there were no tours inside of it when it was listed for sale.

Even with the alterations to the sea walls, the future repair of the boathouse, will still provide a beautiful view over the raised seawall from the covered terrace. They can’t make major alterations to it by code because of its proximity to the beach. That’s nice to know. It will also still provide storage underneath, likely for aquatic activities, so its original function remains, though not quite as conveniently located by a direct gate to the sand.

I now wonder about the gatehouse’s future. It also can’t be significant altered by code because of its proximity to the highway. Its original function was to house five servants. It was later remodeled to function more like an actual guesthouse, by eliminating at least one bedroom to enlarge the living space downstairs. Perhaps it will be an actual guesthouse, something Pahonu never had, or an office area for Secret Service, or even a place for a caretaker when it’s not being occupied… as in Higgy-baby!

Sorry this got so long as I pondered!

Thank you for sharing those videos!

It's sad to see what has happened to the Estate ... if I didn't know I wouldn't know that's where the show was filmed. It's a shame they didn't try and keep the ambience of the original. To buy something for what it was and change it into something else is just wrong.

It’s sad when any historic structure is razed, but it’s all too common. In this case the main house had fallen into such a state of disrepair and dilapidation that it made no economic sense to spend more on restoration than building new. I wish Mrs Anderson had listed it for sale a decade or more earlier. There would have been a real shot at finding a buyer to fix it up, I think.

The historic home in Woodside owned by Steve Jobs, incidentally in the same style and era as Pahonu, was also allowed to fall into disrepair and then it was razed. There was a fight to protect it and even offers for free architectural work to modernize the house while keeping it largely intact. When the court cases were over, he had it torn down even though he was very ill and died shortly thereafter. There’s still nothing built there.

Another example was a fight to save an historic home left to fall apart in Miami on Star Island. There are too many examples. Most upsetting to me was a home dating back to the post-Civil War era in Massachusetts in the shingle style. It was lovingly cared for by the grandson of the original owners until he died in his 90’s. It was even toured on the show This Old House, as a landmark of the style. It was bought by the creator of the Roomba vacuum and destroyed. It’s not just sad, it’s angering.