Honolulu | Shangri La – Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art

The former architecture student in me loves seeking out sites with architectural significance whenever and wherever we travel, especially if it involves peering inside early to mid 20th century mansions of the rich and famous. As hard as it was to pull myself away from my established beach bum lifestyle, I made the exception to visit Shangri La, Doris Duke’s former home and now the Center for Islamic Art and Culture.

Doris Duke, an extremely wealthy heiress, fell in love with Islamic art during her honeymoon when her round-the-world trip took her to India and then to Hawaii. Construction on Shangri La, Duke’s Honolulu home, began in the late 1930s and continued for the next 60 years or so as Doris Duke collected and commissioned Islamic art.

Perched above the cliffs of a residential neighborhood the home’s modest white exterior opened up into another world of secret gardens lined with aqua blue pools of waters, trickling fountains, lush vegetation and colorful tile mosaics.

Every door and window and pathway led to a breathtaking vista or an unexpected interior oasis. The outdoors were invited inside as the line between the two blurred via the placement of interior courtyards, floor-to-ceiling windows that retracted into the floor, and the use of bright turquoises and yellows to abstractly reflect the home’s natural surroundings and stunning ocean views.

We weren’t allowed to take photographs of the inside of Shangri La so you’ll have to imagine an interior of tented ceilings, bold colors, cool white marble, private gardens and courtyards, perforated screens, colored glass, priceless artifacts on display, pointy arched doorways, and walls almost entirely covered with mirrors and bright tiles.

While Shangri La’s design was strongly influenced by Islamic art it never felt too gimmicky or as if we were in a theme park re-creation of Islamic architecture. I absolutely love Islamic art and architecture as much as I love modern art and architecture. Shangri La successfully embodied aspects of both styles with clean white lines accentuated by texture, pattern, and color.

Our tour of the interior of Shangri La eventually led us back outside. The view from the backyard was absolutely breathtaking with a series of cascading fountains that led to one of the most inviting pools I have ever seen. At the base of the cliff, steps led down to a more natural (public?) salt water pool. Being a particularly hot and humid afternoon, I wanted nothing more than to jump right in!

Given Doris Duke’s extreme wealth (her total net worth was valued at 5.3 billion dollars) I was surprised at how personal and intimate Shangri La felt, something that seems to be lost on today’s gaudy billionaire McMansions. Granted, Doris owned something like seven other mansion-sized homes, but I always feel like old money mansions are somehow more beautiful than anything I’ve seen built in present day.

Maybe it’s just that I love the ability to peer into the past and imagine a time of opulence and luxury and, more interestingly, a life filled with mundane of everyday activities.

DETAILS

Doris Duke’s Shangri La – Center for Islamic Arts and Cultures | COST: $25, also includes admission to Honolulu Museum of Art. Tickets must be reserved ahead of time and can be purchased online or by phone. | DESCRIPTION: The tour meets in the main courtyard of the Honolulu Museum of Art. From here you’ll board a shuttle to Shangri La. Note: You cannot drive on your own to the estate as there is no parking and it is not allowed. After arriving, a guide will lead you through on a detailed tour of the majority of the home (except for the playhouse), gardens and courtyards with a water break on the deck overlooking the ocean. It’s not a massive space to cover and the tour itself lasts about 1.5 hours, though with waiting and transportation, the overall time of the tour falls closer to 2.5 hrs. Our guide was chock-full of information and thoroughly interesting. My favorite part of the tour was at the end when we gathered in the Syrian room. Our guide handed us strips of hand-written quotes by Rumi on lightly scented decorative paper, which we took turns reading aloud. It really brought the space to life. Tours occur 3x a day, Wed-Sat, and are often times sold out. I managed to snag the last spot the morning of my tour most likely because I was touring solo. | VERDICT: Highly recommended, especially if you love Islamic art/architecture and/or touring old homes. While this popular tour is often fully booked, the group sizes are kept small and it manages to feel wonderfully off-the-beaten path.