Museum Houses

In restoring a historic house for use as a museum, the architects and architectural historians at Mason Architects conduct archival and on-site research to establish the evolution of the structure through time -- its modifications and additions -- and to place it in the social and economic context of the era in which it was built. On this base they can accurately restore the house to its original state.

The Contemporary Museum
The Alice Cooke Spalding residence, designed by Hart Wood in 1925 on Makiki Heights Road, opened as The Contemporary Museum in 1988. It is now expanding into a new three-story building and the adjacent Peterson residence, designed by Vladimir Ossipoff in 1951. Mason Architects has designed the renovation of the two historic houses to accommodate the expansion and resultant changes of use in the museum.

Hawaiian Hall Complex
After completing a Historic Structure Report to document the building's history of alterations in the years since it was constructed, in three phases from 1886-1903, Mason Architects worked with exhibit designers to bring Bishop Museum's Hawaiian Hall up to current museum standards while safeguarding its historical integrity.

Hulihe'e Palace
The palace was built in 1840 and renovated by King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani in 1886 as their vacation home in Kailua-Kona, Island of Hawai'i. Mr. Mason restored the interior in 1978 while with Charles Sutton and Associates. In 1995 MAI did additional restoration work on the Palace, and in 2006 we designed a kitchen wing to replicate the original.

Shangri-La
Doris Duke built Shangri-La in the late 1930s on the oceanfront near Diamond Head and imported its art and architecture from the Islamic world. The Doris Duke Foundation hired Mason Architects to restore and adapt the home for use as a limited-access museum for the study of Islamic art.

Queen Emma Summer Palace
Mason Architects has done several projects to help maintain the Summer Palace, which was built in Nu'uanu in 1847 and has been operated since 1911 as a museum by the Daughters of Hawai'i.

'Iolani Palace Basement Gallery
MAI provided architectural services for close to $1 million of improvements to the 'Iolani Palace basement to serve as a display museum for artifacts associated with the Palace history. Exhibit design by George Sexton, with curator Corinne Ching.

Washington Place
Built in 1847 and occupied by Queen Lili'uokalani from 1862 until her death in 1917, Washington Place was the official residence of the Governor of Hawaii until 2002. Mason Architects has prepared a master plan to restore the house for use as a public museum, restored the Queen's Bedroom, and prepared an Architectural Conservation Plan to guide future improvements to the building.