Living History

A lovingly restored Upcountry home stands the test of time.

4860
Kula Maui kitchen
The kitchen’s midcentury appeal is enhanced by the vintage-style mahogany cabinets Todd build from scratch. Debra painted the lower cabinets red to complement the railing of the lānai.

The first order of business was to widen the steep and narrow staircase so Debra could safely navigate her way to the top floor. Then he tackled the main floor: kitchen and dining area, living room, master bedroom, and a his-and-hers office. He converted one of the two bathrooms into a laundry room, ripped out the carpet in the living room and office to reveal the original wood flooring, expanded the master bedroom by fourteen feet, and gave every room a fresh coat of paint.

Todd and Debra painted the home’s cedar-shake shingle exterior a striking shade of charcoal-brown set off by white trim around the doors and windows. The detached, 1,000-square-foot garage—which now houses the family gym, storage area, and a second leased commercial space—received the same treatment.

Kula home
The fireplace makes for a cozy lānai on chilly Upcountry evenings; it’s also ideal for roasting marshmallows for s’mores.

And what’s new seamlessly blends with what’s old. “That was my vision from day one,” Todd says. “I wanted to preserve [the building’s] character.” With that in mind, he only replaced what couldn’t be salvaged, and painstakingly ensured every change or addition would harmonize with the home’s historic features. In the kitchen, he swapped out the old flooring for vintage-style tiles and built wood cabinets that—to the untrained eye—look like vestiges of a bygone era. (Serendipitously, Todd discovered some antique knobs abandoned in a barn, and installed them on the cabinets.) He replaced several of the newer doors and windows—remnants of the 1980s remodel—with paneled doors and lead-weight windows that had been discarded during a renovation of a 1930s cottage in Wailuku; Todd outfitted every door with old-fashioned brass ball-tip hinges.

Upstairs, he added more windows to usher in sunlight. Today, the Preseaults’ three teenagers have the run of the top floor, which has three bedrooms, a common area (catchily dubbed “the romper room”) and a Jack-and-Jill bathroom. Todd built a street-facing balcony in 2012; the siblings can climb out of their bedroom windows and enjoy the lofty view. Two floors down is the basement he renovated as a commercial space with its own entrance. (The Preseaults were granted a conditional use permit for the property in 2011; they rent the space to a salon owner.)

Kula home

The rear of the house hugs a dry gulch, and when the Preseaults moved in, its edge was perilously close to the back door. To increase the home’s living space—and to keep his family safe—Todd constructed a covered, 670-square-foot, ipe-wood lānai that now extends over the gulch. The lānai doubles as a second living room; there’s plenty of cozy seating, a daybed for overnight guests, and a lava-rock fireplace that rises from the ground floor to the ceiling of the lānai to warm up chilly Kula nights. The lānai’s red Japanese-style railing (an aesthetic choice Todd says is reflective of the property’s cultural history) wraps around the back of the home.

Not long after putting the finishing touches on the lānai, the Preseaults hosted a dinner party. To Debra’s dismay, it began to rain—but then she heard the soft pinging of raindrops on the corrugated metal roof. “It’s the most beautiful sound. I love it when it rains here,” she says. And if the clouds roll in, the Preseaults know they’re in for a treat. Depending on how hard it’s raining, the gulch below can become a gently flowing stream or a racing river; the family often falls asleep to the sound of moving water.

It’s been nearly two decades since the Preseaults first laid eyes on the property, but they say the novelty of living in a piece of Maui’s history hasn’t worn off—and it likely never will. “This place holds so many memories,” Debra says, gesturing to a framed black-and-white photo of the old Morihara Store that hangs on the kitchen wall.

“And now it holds ours, too.”


RESOURCES

Pono Building Company, Inc.
(general contractor) 4230 Lower Kula Road, Kula • 808-870-7979
PonoBuildingCompany.com

Rockman (fireplace)
47 Kahoea Place, Kula
808-878-2903 • RockManMaui.com

1
2

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

85 + = 88