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The Story of Hale Lele Villa...

            In 1995, Karl Rush, a Southern entrepreneur, came upon the perfect spot in Maui for a contemporary Hawaiian villa.  The house would be designed by R. L. Rodriguez, a New York City designer noted for his celebrity clients in Florida, Georgia, New York, Hawaii, and Las Vegas, Nevada.  The resulting Hawaiian-styled Pacific Ocean property would eventually come to be known as “Hale Lele Villa.”

            Rush’s decision to create a beach mansion on Maui's South Shore (known as the "Gold Coast") near Kihei, led him to purchase a building originally containing six condominium units. Today, the reconfigured four-level 10,000 square foot Hale Lele contains a grand two-level, 5,000 square foot modern Hawaiian villa, plus an additional 5,000 square feet in three separate contemporary two-level Hawaiian living spaces:  a guest suite, the owner's unit, and the caretakers' ohana.  The home has five kitchens and 15 bathrooms, plus all the bedrooms, laundries, workshops, TV rooms, lanais, and living areas you'd expect--in a style reminiscent of what a Hawaiian king's beach estate might be.

 
            While the incomparable beauty of Hale Lele is the result of the combined creative talents and vision of several men including Rodriguez, Rush, two Hawaiian architects, and a French-inspired Hawaii landscape designer, Timothy DeShong---it is Hale Lele itself which continues to be the centerpiece of a contemporary Hawaiian design legacy. This great house is one of the largest private residences on Maui. It is operated as a legal vacation rental and is valued, including its contents, at well over five million dollars.

            Begun in 1984, Hale Lele is constructed of tons of steel and concrete.  A noted Hawaiian construction engineer said, "Long after the Maui we know is gone, Hale Lele will remain."  Some structural elements were part of the original shipments from Europe and Asia used to construct the nearby Grand Wailea Resort.  Fine woods shipped from Canada and the Pacific Northwest joined locally-acquired Hawaiian timber.  It took dozens of workers more than five years to complete the remodeling.

            During the Christmas Season of 2002, Rush formally opened the doors of the finished home for the first time to friends, family, and vacation renters. On into the 21st century, Hale Lele Villa will remain a monument to contemporary  Hawaiian architecture, showcasing Rush’s original and extensive collection of unique furnishings, art and antiques. 

            Rush, author, visionary publishing entrepreneur and artificial intelligence pioneer, is a Renaissance man, fluent in the language of business and widely traveled.  He is knowledgeable and conversant about architecture, music, outdoor sports, yachting, fishing, agriculture, horticulture and journalism.  He grew up in the impoverished Deep South, was a former tobacco farmhand, school basketball player, and Eagle Scout who went on to be voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in his Georgia high school senior class. After turning down a college music scholarship, he earned a University of Georgia journalism degree in 1971.  He soon joined Tri-Star Pictures and became a successful motion picture executive and TV screenwriter, producer and director. 

            His passion, however, was artificial intelligence-inspired journalism, and in 1984, he founded the medical and pharmaceutical publishing company.

            Rush's most admired historical figure was a close personal friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt and was American's boldest, most spectacular entrepreneur:  Henry J. Kaiser (1882-1967).  Like Kaiser, also a former farm boy, Rush rose from lower-middle-class origins to become a successful entrepreneur living in Hawaii.  Kaiser's legacy, including HMO Kaiser-Permanente, a resort in Hawaii, ship-building, real estate development in Honolulu and Las Vegas (with partner Howard Hughes), tourism, motion pictures, music, and TV productions like Maverick and The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, all parallel Rush's interest in healthcare, yachting, real estate, tourism, and the entertainment and hospitality industries.  In 2003, Rush carried this admiration a step further:  he purchased Henry J. Kaiser's legendary yacht, a 50-foot Wheeler Sport Fisherman, same make and model as the famous Pilar yacht owned by another journalist, Ernest Hemingway.  Rush's yacht, Henry J, was perhaps the most historical modern boat in Hawaii (post WWII), and certainly the most well-appointed.  As Norman Vincent Peale said, "Few people ever did so much for Hawaii as Henry Kaiser.  He left an indelible mark on the islands."  Not surprisingly, Rush's favorite books are Henry J. Kaiser, Builder of the Modern American West (1989); Henry J. Kaiser, Western Colossus (1991); and Mr. Kaiser Goes to Washington (1997). In 2005, Rush completed a revamping of the Henry J, incorporating it into a modern fiberglass cruiser with new hull.  The newly restored boat, although not the same as the Wheeler, remains true to Kaiser and incorporates many of the features of the Henry J.

            Also, like Kaiser's soirees, Rush's Atlanta penthouse parties are legendary, and were frequented by well-known music industry and motion picture celebrities. 

            It was in Atlanta that Rush first met Rodriguez. The celebrity designer remodeled a home for Rush in Atlanta's Tony Druid Hills, a national historic district, where the street plantings and parks had been designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, America's most famous landscape architect.  It was while traveling to Japan with Rodriguez, during a rest stop in Hawaii, that Rush discovered, in sunny Maui, the building which would become Hale Lele. 

            The two men journeyed throughout the Southern United States, Hawaii, and Japan, purchasing paintings, hand-carved bowls, sculptures, silk rugs, and furniture during the years Hale Lele was being remodeled.  Rush even journeyed to Hawaii's "forbidden island" of Niihau (with the island's owner, of course) for ideas. Rush's diverse and cultured tastes are now on display in this great house.  His intent--to construct a casual beach estate that he imagined would be built by Hawaiian King Kamehameha the Great if alive today-- produced the huge collection which furnishes Hale Lele.  Indeed, it is the nature of the collection, reflecting Rush's interests and tastes, which guests and visitors find most fascinating. 

            Inside the house, artworks by famous Hawaiians and Asians adorn the walls and floors, some items dating to the 1100s.  Some of Rush's favorites are originals by Picasso, Peggy Hopper, Diana Hansen-Young, Curtis Wilson Cost, and Susan McGovney Hansen.  The furniture includes Japanese Samurai warrior armor, handmade Inuit chairs and tables, and a Flemish Wardrobe from the 1600s, objects like those which filled Captain Cook's quarters as he sailed the Pacific.  One bedroom grouping is rumored to have been used by Elvis during the filming of Blue Hawaii.  Hanging above the library you'll find the Tommy Bahama-created Maui bicycle often ridden by actor, producer, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Next to the bicycle is an original Moeller watercolor of Schwarzenegger as champion bodybuilder.  A giant woven tapestry, formerly part of Steve Wynn's Las Vegas empire, hangs in the living room.  Early Hawaiian collectables and vintage art deco furniture from colonial Vietnam also can be found.  Thai silk rugs from Jim Thompson, Thailand's Silk King, cover floors in the villa's Hale Ohana, while fresh flowers from the property's Hawaiian gardens decorate the rooms.  A 12th century Buddha occupies a niche on the main floor. 

            Upstairs on the fourth and top level, in addition to a quiet reading area and a TV-game room, guests can enjoy the "whale watch," comfortably observing the largest creatures of the sea at play in the ocean, which is a mere 60 steps away.

 
            Fully air conditioned, Hale Lele is considered one of the finest residences ever built on Maui. It is admired for its innovative engineering, solid construction from concrete and steel, and its exquisite siting which maximizes views of the volcano known as Haleakala, "The Cove," one of Hawaii's premier surfing spots, plus extraordinary sunset and Pacific Ocean views which include the Islands of Lanai, Molokini, Molakai and Kaaholawe. 

            Rush wanted his beach home to provide family and friends with life’s recreational pleasures: a heated swimming pool with thermae spa waterfall, flat panel big-screen plasma TV room, and the beauty of both sunrise and sunset from extensive lanais, plus protected, connected, direct access to the Pacific ocean…"at the ocean", without the problems and lack of security of lesser houses "on the beach", among the hoards of beach-going visitors.

            Guests who are lucky enough to occupy Hale Lele as a vacation rental, get to see “behind-the-scenes” life in upscale Hawaii:  life at its finest in one of Maui's largest mansions, or as many have described it, the Hawaiian version of a great Italian villa.

            While Hale Lele, the house, is the focal point of the compound, it is clear when you walk the grounds and visit the lanais that the genius of Rodriguez and DeShong are an integral part of Hale Lele.  Their sweeping landscape provides a fitting backdrop for this magnificent villa.  Rare yellow beach-side bamboo grows side by side with Hawaiian plants, with vines and flowers blooming year round.  Rodriguez' secret Zen garden provides a quiet place to meditate. A DeShong-designed water wall is frequently cited as the most "image setting" aspect of the front grounds.  A modern sculptured "Hawaiian waterfall," the water wall is a monument to DeShong's creative landscaping genius.  So, too, are the thoughtfully-designed gardens and paths. 

            In keeping with the Henderson tradition of entertaining in style, today’s guests at Hale Lele are treated, not only to the elegance of a 21st century Hawaiian estate, but to the epicurean pleasures of living like Hawaiian royalty.  Scarlett DeShong, former spa manager at the luxurious Four Seasons Resort in Wailea, Maui, is available, on-site, to provide epicurean and recreation advice. She works as a consultant for the State of Hawaii Healthy Coalition, Physical Education in schools and spa, fitness, children and adult activity programs.  She can tell you where to hike, exercise, "be pampered," or buy great, fresh local foods or locate fine wines for Hale Lele's unique wine "cellar," formerly a Hawaiian canoe turned keeper of award-winning wines. The villa maintains dozens of cases of fine wines, some from Maui's own vineyards and winery.

        Rodriguez-inspired touches at Hale Lele include the unique grand entrance stairway, designed in the ancient Hawaiian style:  expansive steps at the bottom, gradually narrowing to cozy comfort at the formal entry of the home.  Inside, you will find his inviting great stairwell and luxurious two-story open spaces lighted by romantic customized lighting and integrated custom sound systems.  Out back, find the unique pool arbor, changing room and spacious and private outdoor "open to the stars" shower. 

            Across from Hale Lele is an awe-inspiring and private beach area where visitors can enjoy a leisurely stroll, kids can frolic in the majestic Pacific, or one can sit peacefully with a glass of wine and watch the sun slip quietly into the ocean. 

            For those looking for even more, there are dozens of recreation, dining and shopping opportunities within walking distance in the charming beach-front town of Kihei, one of Maui's most showcased settlements. 

            Hale Lele is located in sunny South Maui near the Wailea Resort, at the intersection of the narrow and hidden beach-front road known as Iliili and the manicured grass-covered beach-walk called Lele Place (a Maui County beach access). 

            In Hawaiian, "Hale" is house and "Lele" is leap…so "Hale Lele" is "the home at Lele Place," a short jump or leap from the beach.

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