One of the most esteemed houses in Hawaii, Washington Place, turns 175 years old this year.

But birthday celebration plans for the state-owned home in downtown Honolulu are raising some eyebrows over costs to taxpayers in the midst of a colossal state budget crisis.

Gov. David Ige proposes spending $53,000 to commemorate the anniversary of the longtime residence of Queen Lili‘uokalani and a dozen Hawaii governors, which became a museum and state reception venue nearly two decades ago.

The tab for the event represents a rather minuscule sum in relation to Ige’s proposed $15.4 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Yet the sensibility of such spending has been questioned in the face of immense cuts to state jobs, programs and services aimed at offsetting a projected $1.4 billion revenue shortfall in each of the next four years.

“What kind of celebration is being planned during COVID, with the inability to gather, that would require that much (money)?” Rep. Lisa Marten, a member of the House Finance Committee, asked Linda Chu Takayama, Ige’s chief of staff, during a recent budget briefing.

Takayama said Washington Place celebration details haven’t been finalized yet, and that although a largely virtual event is being devised, there is hope that some difficulties related to the coronavirus pandemic will subside by an unspecified event schedule later this year.

“The options for holding a celebration are still underway,” she told committee members.

Takayama also said of the $53,000 budget request, “It’s not a whole lot of money.”

Nearly half the total — $26,000 — would be for printing commemorative booklets about Washington Place’s history. Another roughly $20,000 would pay for a virtual exhibit that includes DVDs with photos and videos, while $5,600 would include webinar production and $1,500 would be spent on 175th-anniversary pins.

Private donations are expected to match the state’s $53,000 and help fund the commemoration.

Themes for the anniversary event — hope, resiliency and healing — “reflect the spirit of Washington Place and are relevant to us all during this time,” Ige officials said in a statement.

The last major birthday celebration for Washington Place was in 1996 for the 150th anniversary, when the home was still the governor’s residence. As part of that event, entertainment, educational displays and tours were featured at the site and also at Iolani Palace and the current home of the Hawaii Supreme Court, Aliiolani Hale.

Artifacts in Washington Place then, and now, include items from long-ago occupants and help showcase parts of Hawaii’s history.

The two-story house with 17 rooms surrounded by lush gardens on 3 acres of land at 320 S. Beretania St. originally was to have been the home of wealthy trader and sea captain John Dominis, who was lost at sea during a trip around the time the home was completed in 1846.

The stately mansion named after America’s first president became home to Mary Dominis, the merchant’s widow, and son John Owen Dominis, who married the future Queen Lili‘uokalani, Lydia Kamakaeha, in 1862 and was named governor of Oahu by King Kamehameha V in 1868.

Lili‘uokalani, who was displaced from Iolani Palace during the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, lived at Washington Place for 55 years and died there in 1917. Her husband preceded her in death.

A year after the death of Hawaii’s last queen, then-Gov. Charles McCarthy leased Washington Place from Lili‘uokalani’s estate as his residence.

In 1921 the territory of Hawaii acquired the property for $55,000, and Washington Place became the home for a dozen governors, the last of whom was Benjamin Cayetano.

The state built a new, $1.2 million gubernatorial residence behind Washington Place in 2002, and the former governor’s mansion mauka of the state Capitol became a museum while still hosting occasional state receptions.

A private nonprofit, the Washington Place Foundation, was established in 1999 and helps manage, preserve and share the historic property with the public.

The home has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973, and was designated a national historic landmark in 2007.

Louise “Gussie” Schubert, the foundation’s president, who has been involved in celebration planning, said some anniversary events could possibly be held in the home in early 2022.

By some historians’ accounts, Washington Place was completed in 1847, so the 175th anniversary could still apply.

“Everything is up in the air,” said Schubert, who is a great-great-granddaughter of John Dominis and puts high value on recognizing the anniversary of what she described as the longest continually lived-in home in Hawaii.

About 9,000 people annually have visited the museum in recent years to see parts of the home and historic artifacts that include furniture, art, photos, music composed by the queen, a koa piano of Lili‘uokalani’s and books of the queen’s husband.

Part of the home’s significance is also as a site where governors hosted world leaders and other prominent guests.

“This home is so important to the leadership of Hawaii,” Ige said in 2019 during an “Island Focus” program on ‘Olelo.

“The queen’s presence is always here,” added Hawaii first lady Dawn Amano-Ige.

Planning for the home’s 175th anniversary dates back to the fall of 2019 but was upset by COVID-19.

After the pandemic arose, free weekly docent-led tours of Washington Place were suspended. Some programming went virtual, including a traditional Christmas open house that was presented as a video tour hosted by Amano-Ige and broadcast on ‘Olelo last month.

“As with many businesses and organizations, we pivoted and adapted to virtual programming to keep Washington Place ‘open’ to the community,” Ige representatives said in a statement.