Nestled within the Kukio Golf and Beach Club and known as Honu Estate, the eight-bedroom home overlooks the picturesque Kona Coast

Kukio Golf and Beach Club on the island of Hawaii’s gorgeous Kona Coast has long been a getaway for billionaires seeking a secluded respite far from the maddening crowds.

Kukio is one of the island’s most exclusive neighbourhoods—only homeowners and their guests are allowed access—and has drawn tech hotshots like billionaires Michael Dell, Ken Griffin, the former CEO of Wells Fargo, Paul Hazen, and numerous other Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs. It’s somewhat rare that a fully built home here comes to the market, as many are traded in off-market deals or kept in the same family for decades. Now, as long as you have the budget of a titan of tech, you, too, can own a slice of Kona Coast’s paradise with the purchase of the recently listed oceanfront residence, Honu Estate.

If the sprawling property, which is being offered fully furnished, sells for its asking price of $49 million, it will be one of the most expensive residences ever sold on the island of Hawaii. A true trophy estate, the 1,713 sq m home has seven bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, and three half bathrooms, as well as breezy, oversized living areas that seamlessly connect the tropical outdoors. The sellers, who first purchased the site in 2002, completed the home in 2008 and tapped renowned architect Shay Zak of Bay Area-based Zak Architecture to craft a tranquil Hawaiian home.

Zak, who has worked on countless Hawaiian-style homes, meticulously designed the estate with the finest materials sourced from around the world. He utilised scalloped teak roofing, golden travertine stone flooring, Venetian plaster walls, custom koa, mango, teak, and bamboo wood finishes, and intricate hand-carved exterior walls. Providing a distinct sense of place and arrival to the magnificent property, the home has a grand courtyard entrance dressed up with a pond, fountain, stone steps, and a walkway flanked by grassy seating areas.

The gardens and planted courtyards give the home an exceptionally lush and tropical feel, thanks to landscape architect Suzman Cole Design Association.

The home’s interiors, designed by Bay Area-based The Wiseman Group Interior Design, feature a contemporary Hawaiian design aesthetic for each of the 19 rooms. The home faces west onto the ocean and is spread across two floors, including a main level and a lower level. The floor’s main level was designed for indoor-outdoor living and entertaining, with a living room that connects to a covered outdoor seating area overlooking the massive infinity pool. The living area also features a wet bar. From the living area, there is a family room and kitchen with state-of-the-art appliances, a walk-in pantry, and direct access to another outdoor lanai with an outdoor dining table.

Most of the bedrooms are located on the main level, including the expansive primary suite. It has an outdoor shower garden, a bathtub, and a private lanai that rivals the size of the bedroom. There are dual walk-in closets and direct access to a sunken yoga garden. The amenities are split between both levels and feature an office/study, a formal dining room, a movie theatre, a yoga room with an outdoor meditation pavilion, and a fully outfitted music and karaoke room with a recording studio and a stage. There’s also a dedicated kid’s playroom, a cocktail bar for adults, and a reverse osmosis well system with its own water supply. Outside is a large swimming pool and spa, ample covered terraces, and emerald carpets of lawn dotted with swaying palm trees.

Each home in the resort enclave is shrouded in privacy thanks to verdant landscaping, so you never feel too close to other residents in the community. Honu Estate isn’t far from the white-sand beach that edges Kukio Golf and Beach Club, and a brief golf cart drive away is the club, which has a full-service clubhouse, spa, fitness centre, dining pavilion, beach bar, tennis courts, a 10-hole short course and a Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole championship golf course, both designed by Tom Fazio, and a golf boutique.
This club caters exclusively to residents of Kukio and Kukio’s nearby sister property, Kaupulehu. This means that no outside guests or day trippers will have access to the property, which adds to the enclave’s calming sense of relaxation and security.

Honu Estate is listed by Carrie Nicholson of Hawaii Life.

This story was first published on Robb Report USA