Big Island

Kohala – Home Plus Cottage on Acreage

Usually I prefer to blog about multiple homes within a category, but right now with so little inventory there might be a single option for particular buyers. In this case a buyer wanting:

  • North Kohala outside of gated community
  • Acreage for farming/gardening/botanical garden
  • Main house plus guest quarters

The property many of us still fondly think of as “the Peter Palm Nursery” has just come on the market, and it checks all of these boxes…with the potential for agricultural income!

Aerial Peter Palm Nursery

Aerial looking over the palm nursery/botanical garden with the cottage, towards the main house. MLS 651642

Palm Nursery or Private Botanical Garden

The property consists of a little over 3 acres, tucked into a gulch right between the towns of Hawi and Kapaau, very close to my recently sold Stone Crusher Estate listing many of you drooled over. And before you raise your eyebrows about living in a gulch, please read my very old blog post about why you should like living and farming or gardening in a gulch. Top reasons: wind protection, privacy, and view plane protection. Most pre-haole-contact agriculture was done in gulches.

Lipstick palm

Many rare specimen palm varieties grace the gardens, which were used as a profitable nursery for landscape plants for over two decades by the original owner. The botanical gardens also have a variety of fruit and tropical flower trees. This is an ideal property for a buyer who wants to “grow things”…whether palms or food.

Two Residential Structures

If I told you the original owner was from Switzerland, you might understand why he built a three-story pole house full of wood and charm. The home is at the top of the property, which provided the residents privacy from the thriving nursery business on the lower portion of the acreage.

Home on acreage Hawi

Pole house has three stories: the bottom level for you to clean up after working the garden, and a two-story elevated home.

The interior main level has living and dining spaces, kitchen and three bedrooms; the top floor is a main bedroom suite.

Swiss stuckli in Hawaii

Open floor plan and four bedrooms in the Swiss farmhouse style 3-story home

The cottage in the gulch was originally used as an office and gathering spot to host groups that would come to see the 135 varieties in the tropical palm tree collection. It has one bedroom and a sweet outdoor shower.

Cottage

If your goal is to live and work on a true agricultural property in North Kohala, own a house with character, and be close to town, this is the only currently active listing that meets those criteria. Asking $1,200,000.

Comments (4) Show CommentsHide Comments (Remember)

Cool. Add your comment...

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Leave your opinion here. Please be nice. Your Email address will be kept private, this form is secure and we never spam you.

Lilac Lasim

August 26, 2021

I lived in North Kohala for 20 years. Our home was one of the homes by the highway, close to the Upolu Airport Road. Wow, the listing price… I wish I kept the house my parents’ owned.

I sure would like to go back when I retire.

Beth Robinson

August 26, 2021

Thanks for reading and sharing your story!

Mumu

September 2, 2021

That was a great writeup from someone with inside knowledge :)))
I think the asking price was a bit low given how quickly it went into escrow.
Many memories there!

Beth Thoma Robinson, R(B)

September 2, 2021

> Aloha Mumu, wie gehts? it seems like it almost doesnʻt matter how much we ask these days, we have such a backlog of prospective buyers who have fear of missing out. I just hope the new buyers will do justice to the great memories. Miss you and Peterli!

More Articles from Hawaii Life