Moana Makai

Moana Makai sits directly on the water on Aliʻi Drive, one mile south of Kailua-Kona. Nine bedrooms and seven baths across a house designed by Hamlet “Lucky” Bennett, with Koa millwork throughout and the Pacific on the other side of the glass.

The kitchen is Wolf and Sub-Zero and sized for a caterer. There is a billiard room, two wet bars, and an oceanfront lanai long enough for the whole party to eat at once. The pool and spa are shared only with Moana Mauka, the garden house behind — and if you take both, with nobody.

Town is five minutes by car: restaurants, the pier, the farmers’ market. Manta-ray night dives leave from a bay a few minutes further south. The house is the reason to come; the island is the reason to leave it for an afternoon.

Moana Mauka is the garden house of the estate — six bedrooms and four baths, set back from the water on the mountain side of the same gate. It shares the pool, spa and grounds with Moana Makai.

Quieter, greener, and a short walk from the ocean-side house. Grandparents, a second family, or the wedding party take Mauka; the hosts take Makai; everyone meets at the pool.