A good deal of the shoreline at Kiholo Bay is public land, but there is one short stretch that is privately-owned. Not surprisingly, these rare waterfront parcels are owned by the very wealthy. One such is a large, sprawling yellow estate just back from the beach, owned by the inventor of the pacemaker. A bit farther down the beach is this property, known to most people here as the Bali House.
The property is owned by John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of the Paul Mitchell line of hair products and The Patrón Spirits Company. DeJoria had traveled in Bali and loved the architecture, so he had this house hand-built in Bali. The house was then disassembled, shipped to the Big Island, and reassembled on this property. The whole process took around six years and when they were done, it started to shrink. Turns out the Balinese carpenters had used green logs from the Borneo forest and in less-humid Hawaii, the wood shrank and split.
Apart from it’s striking appearance, what I find notable about the house is how it’s set back from the beach and surrounded by greenery. The view of the ocean is almost what realtors call peek-a-boo. The house is also self-sustaining, relying on solar power and rainwater collection. This is most admirable, but I suspect I’d still prefer the caretaker’s cottage.
Graham's Island 
Oh gosh, but why?!? I mean, it is very beautiful, but Bali is Bali and Hawaii is Hawaii…
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But one of the nice things about Hawaii is that it’s something of a melting pot of cultures in everything from population to food to buildings. Some staples of Hawaiian life came from elsewhere, such as Spam!
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True! I remember seeing a lot of Japanese influence, too
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It’s very striking but I think would look better on Bali than it does there?
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I’m sure it would fit right in in Bali, but it looks good here, too. It has a tropical feel to it and Hawaii features a lot of things influenced by the Pacific islands and Asia.
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After going to such lengths to get his Bali house, it must have been so disappointing for the owners.
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I expect you’re right, but on the plus side, they could probably afford to fix it.
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I imagine you are right.
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Aslan Jeffery, I was 16 when I helped construct that beautiful house.
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That must have been a great project to be involved with. I heard that, when it was put together on site, the wood shrank because of the difference in humidity between Bali and Hawaii. Was that the case?
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Fascinating.
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