The Honolulu Museum of Art’s historic Spalding House in Makiki Heights has been sold after several years on the market.
According to Honolulu Board of Realtors records, the 3.4-acre property at 2411 Makiki Heights Drive sold in February for $8.3 million, well below the final listing price of $9.5 million.
The sale’s closure marks a significant chapter for HoMA after announcing plans to sell Spalding House, which served as a contemporary art museum, in 2019 to focus on its Beretania Street campus.
“Finalizing the sale of Spalding House represents a strategic step in the museum’s ability to deliver inspiring, engaging, and high-quality art experiences for our audiences and community,” said HoMA Director and CEO Halona Norton-Westbrook in a statement. “Sale of the property will help us to continue building for the future, enhancing our ability to present transformative and ever-evolving art and community programs all from a single, unified campus.”
Spalding House was sold to Rong Rong Art and Science LLC, which according to business records is registered to Chunming Wang in Honolulu.
The property was initially listed at $15 million by Elite Pacific Properties. Its current value was assessed at roughly $17.4 million, according to city tax records.
Tracy Allen of Coldwell Banker Realty was the listing agent for the property’s final sale. The buyer was represented by Loren Graham of Graham Group brokered by eXp Realty. Both real estate agents confirmed the sale but declined to elaborate.
The sprawling property was marketed online as “a legendary residence” with a main dwelling, multiple open gallery spaces, separate caretaker’s quarters, swimming pool and meandering gardens. One of its selling points was an expansive lawn where museum patrons used to picnic while enjoying panoramic views of Honolulu and Diamond Head.
It is zoned residential and commercial, according to property records, with a portion designated as historic.
HoMA’s board of trustees had said it was a difficult decision to put Spalding House up for sale but that from a fiduciary standpoint the sale would allow the museum to focus its resources on its main campus.
Anna Rice Cooke, founder of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, as HoMA was previously known, built Spalding House in 1925 as a residential property, naming it Nu‘umealani, or “heavenly terrace.” When Cooke died in 1934, she left Nu‘umealani to her daughter, Alice Spalding, who gave the residence to the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1968.
The property was eventually sold to Honolulu Advertiser publisher, philanthropist and art collector Thurston Twigg-Smith, who lived there for several years with his family before donating the property as the Contemporary Museum in 1988.
The Contemporary Museum operated as an independent museum until it was returned to the Honolulu Academy of Arts as a gift in 2011.
Norton-Westbrook said the contemporary art collection resulting from the merger continues to be “a cherished and important part of the museum’s permanent collection.”
