Bellairsia: Honolulu House

Honolulu House

The Honolulu House is a former residence turned museum in Marshall, Michigan.

History

The house was built in 1860 as a private residence for Judge Abner Pratt (1801-63) upon his return from the Sandwich Islands where he served as United States Minister (or ambassador) to Hawaii (1857-1859). The house is said to resemble the 'Iolani Palace, built in 1844 as the official residence of the monarch during the reigns of Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, Lunalilo, and the first part of Kalākaua's reign.

A native of New York, Pratt was chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court (1853-57) before assuming his duties in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Pratt constructed his Marshall house upon his return as an architectural blend of Italianate, Gothic, and Polynesian styles. During what would become his brief assocation with the house, Pratt went as far as serving tropical foods and wearing tropical clothing whenever possible to recall his overseas visits. He succumbed to pneumonia on March 27, 1863, after a visit to the state capital in Lansing in inclement weather. Popular legend says his death was the result of his preference to tropical-styled clothing during cold Midwestern winters. His wife had died two years prior.

The Honolulu House, as it became known, was occupied by several residents until 1951 when Harold Brooks acquired the property to protect it from being replaced by a gas station. In 1962, the Marshall Historical Society successfully raised funds needed to purchase the structure, restoring the interior walls and ceiling paintings to the splendor of the 1880s. The building is listed on the Historical American Buildings Survey and the National Register of Historic Places.

A brochure published by the Marshall Historical Society provides a colorful description of the building:

"The house displays a combination of tropical fantasy and Victorian architecture: fifteen-foot ceilings, ten-foot doors, long, open galleries with the dining room and kitchen on the ground level. A circular freestanding staircase rises from the lower level to an observation platform more than thirty feet above. The walls in the interior of the house were painted to depict scenes from the islands...Its colorful green, red, and ivory painted facade features a wide Hawaiian-style lanai (verandah) and decorative railings."

On the islands, such an observation platform "would have afforded [Pratt] a view of the sea...in Marshall it afforded him a view of his daughter's house directly across the street" [1].

Stemming from Marshall’s connection to Hawaii, pineapples - long known as symbols of hospitality - can be spotted around town.

Bellairs Corpus

The Hawaii House is a solitary and secretive house in New Zebedee, Michigan. The Keller family - Ernest and Evelyn and son, David – live there after moving to town (The House where Nobody Lived; 13, 21).