Jim Nabors’ former Diamond Head home to undergo transformation

What has been described as the “treasured” Honolulu oceanfront home of late TV star, singer and longtime Hawaii resident Jim Nabors is coming down.

But the property’s new owner intends to pay tribute to the Diamond Head estate known as “Hale Aloha” by replacing it with a comparable-style residence after wanting to renovate the old home but determining that it would cost as much or more than building something new.

Hale Aloha’s new owner also is recycling many parts of the 5,877-square-foot house.

A few items such as a circus-themed wall mural painted by local artist John Chin Young, and lava rocks used for decorative exterior and basement walls will be incorporated into the new home, according to Honolulu architect Peter Vincent, who is heading the project.

>> PHOTOS: Jim Nabors’ former Diamond Head home is undergoing a transformation

Many other items in the old Nabors house will be salvaged for public resale, including a koa pool house bar, koa parquet floor panels, redwood lumber, green ceramic roof tiles, doors, windows, cabinets, appliances and vanities being removed by Re-use Hawaii.

One particular gem recently removed for a relative of Nabors was a Baccarat crystal chandelier said to have once been part of a royal palace in Paris during the reign of Napoleon.

“It was a wonderful house,” Vincent said. “There’s a lot of material there that will be put to good future use.”

Quinn Vittum, executive director of Re-Use Hawaii, said the provenance of salvaged items and their connection to a celebrity known for his graciousness make them unique.

“Just the history of the house and the Jim Nabors ethos that is with everything is super special,” he said.

Many kamaaina are familiar with the home because Nabors, best known for playing the character Gomer Pyle, hosted big gatherings there, including parties, weddings and other celebrations.

Nabors owned the house from 1976 until he died three years ago.

Public records show that Anthony Sun, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate and Silicon Valley venture capitalist, bought the property early last year through a family trust for $12 million.

Vincent said the new owner retained him with a goal to renovate the home, part of which dates to 1950 and had been dramatically expanded and renovated by Nabors.

However, Vincent said that after assessments by a structural engineer and a contractor, it was determined that it would cost about as much or more to renovate the old home, which is connected to a cesspool and has problematic basement crawl space along with ancient knob-and-tube electrical wiring in some places.

“It was actually sad to have to make the decision (to replace),” he said.

Vincent declined to discuss costs, but a building permit application for the new home estimates the cost of construction at $1.4 million.

The new home, Vincent said, will in many ways resemble the old home and feature a “classic Hawaiiana” exterior look with modern interiors.

“My goal is when people see it— when it’s all said and done — they see it as a beautiful renovation of the old house,” he said.

Re-use Hawaii recently began deconstruction work. The nonprofit, which is typically paid by property owners who can claim a tax deduction for the value of saved material, has taken apart other notable island homes, including one owned by late Hawaii entertainer Don Ho and a Kahala mansion once occupied by Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto.

Nabors, an Alabama native who rose to stardom in the 1960s playing Pyle first on “The Andy Griffith Show” and then on spinoff series “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,” moved to Hawaii in the 1970s.

The actor and singer bought the Diamond Head house at 215 Kulamanu Place in 1976 from Frank Coty, who had ties to a wealthy family from Paris. Nabors, according to city records, paid $480,000 for the property.

A Honolulu Star-Bulletin account in 1977 said Nabors transformed the old two-story home set on a 25,000-square-foot lot that features a seawall spanning 170 feet fronting a surf spot called Cromwell’s and separated by one other residence along the shoreline from the historic Shangri La estate developed by Doris Duke.

Nabors didn’t only reside in Hawaii. He performed here as well, starring in the Jim Nabors Polynesian Extravaganza at Hilton Hawaiian Village in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and headlining “A Merry Christmas With Friends & Nabors” at Hawaii Theatre for 10 years until 2006.

Nabors died in 2017 at the age of 87 in his home after enduring a case of the shingles that followed several years of declining health.

A trust led by the husband and longtime partner of Nabors, Stan Cadwallader, and Angela Danelutt, a niece of Nabors, put the Diamond Head estate up for sale in 2018 for $14.9 million.

The listing described the property as being the famed entertainer’s treasured home. The main residence featured five bedrooms and six bathrooms. There also was a guest apartment with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom under the main house fronting the pool.

A Star-Advertiser real estate marketing feature quoted a 1993 Island Home Magazine article that described the house as a “plantation style home of lava stone and board-and-batten construction” while also saying that Nabors preferred an old Hawaiian style abode over a slick, Beverly Hills-type dwelling.

The Island Home feature also described the focal point of the living room as a “Baccarat crystal chandelier that once graced the palace of Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris.”

A lot of memorabilia from the life of Nabors also was in the house before it was sold, including photos of the star with other celebrities, artwork, jewelry and furniture. More than 600 such items were sold at auction last year after the home was sold.

Besides the wall mural, an antique grand piano Nabors received from close friend Carol Burnett is another fixture from the old home slated to reappear in the new home as a connection with the star.