K - ʻĀhinahina Point - John Ahu Complex

A prime house location indeed!

NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

Ala Kahakai / 1871

Significance:

Historic House Site

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Scenic View/Photo Spot

As with any house, it’s all about location, location, location! And for the John Ahu house site that you see before you on the makai (ocean) side of the trail, the location was in a very prime spot indeed! Not only for expansive ocean views that would cause the price of this house site to soar in modern times, but also easy access to the main route of travel and the ocean. Below the house site is one of the few suitable canoe landing spots along this stretch of coast. As you continue down the trail a little bit, look back up at the house site and notice the gradual slope down to the water. That’s the spot! In addition to being able to land a canoe, this cove was also the only place with deep enough sheltered waters for larger boats to unload goods to exchange with villagers.

When finding a place for one’s house, it’s important to make sure that you are close to all amenities, especially water. While there is certainly ample saltwater available at this location, fresh water is often hard to come by. In this part of the island, there are no streams or rivers to provide freshwater and instead, freshwater sources are either collected rainwater or the brackish water of anchialine pools.

In Kiʻilae village most of the houses had thatched roofs and only the most well-to-do houses, like the John Ahu house, had tin roofing. With tin roofing came the ability of water catchment, and thus the cistern that you can see in what remains of the house site. However, even with water catchment, rain on the South Kona coast is not guaranteed, and in many cases, the Ahu cistern had to be filled via mule train from the wetter areas up mauka (mountain).

Even today, many residents of South Kona live on rainwater catchment systems, however when the catchment is low, water trucks and roads allow for much easier access to freshwater than the mule trains of the past.