Iolani (“place where the Hawaiian hawks meet the heavens”) is a 6.9 acre homestead nestled between a no-outlet rural dirt road and the State Forest Reserve. Though too small in acreage for our full community vision, Iolani is well-suited for 5-10 residents to live and cultivate most of their food. The land has four basically self-sufficient residential structures, each separated from the others by enough space to convey a sense of autonomy and privacy. Photovoltaic electricity, catchment water, and high-speed internet are centralized and delivered to the structures through underground conduits. Two of the structures have solar hot water, while two rely on propane. Cooking is accomplished mostly by propane, although the climate certainly makes shifting to solar cooking viable. And, yes, quite often we are greeted by majestic and piercing overflights by the many `ioʻs who reside in the forest nearby. If you are a chicken or a cat, you duck for cover.
The land is dotted with old growth mango trees, groupings of which provide four mini-canopied areas interspersed among the orchards and dwellings. Originally designed as a country residence for a paint contractor, the land is configured with a “main house.” The other out-buildings were designated for caretakers, renters, and/or vacation rental. Grass lawn predominated the rolling terrain, dotted with food and ornamental trees, kind of like a cross between an orchard and an arboretum. Crucial staples in our environment had been planted within the previous ten years, so we enter the land with plentiful coconut, breadfruit, and avocado (7 months out of the year), along with a decent smattering of tropical fruits.
We are painfully aware that buying land before having our community founding group brings its perils (see the “structural conflicts” section of Creating a Life Together), but this property does open up significant intentional community possibilities. First, it allows this visionʻs originators–Diga and Jasmine–a secure setting to call home and to live our subsistence values. Second, it provides an attractive, livable setting for prospective co-founders to visit; join meetings; try things out with a short stay; or potentially relocate to. As owners, we intend to find other people with the right values, skills, chemistry, and resources to become co-owners of Iolani and begin to grow a culture inspired by our founding values, even if it is a ʻminiʻ version.