Two weeks ago, I wrote about the new Kalama Harbor Lodge in Washington and that it was inspired by the design of the Pioneer Inn on Maui.

Part of the story was about the Hudson’s Bay Co., which hired hundreds of Hawaiians to work in the fur trade 200 years ago at Fort Vancouver, Wash.

This week I found Maui also had a “Fort Vancouver,” so, I thought I’d explore that today. The centerpiece of the story is the first resort in Kihei, the Maui Lu. Let’s take a look.

Totem poles

It began with an anonymous reader, who saw the totem poles in the picture of the Kalama Harbor Lodge from the article two weeks ago. They remembered that there were two totem poles at the Maui Lu hotel in Kihei and wondered what happened to them.

Gordon Gibson (1904-1986) was in the lumber business in British Columbia. Like many Canadian “snow birds,” he and his wife, Louise, liked to visit Hawaii in the winter.

Gibson told Bill Fletcher, a reporter with the Vancouver Sun in 1971, how he came to build a winter home in Kihei.

On one trip to Maui in 1956, Gibson was driving along Kihei Road with a group of friends when one of them, named Andy, pointed to a 32-acre site. He said, “A club I’m in just bought this sand pile, and I think we’re nuts.”

“Stop here,” he said. “Let’s look,” Gibson jumped out of the car as it came to a halt. On one side was Maalaea Bay, with the afternoon sun glistening on the ocean.

He turned and looked toward the mountains, and saw a grove of big trees. The experienced woodsman realized that there must be an underground water table which could be easily tapped. He had found the spot for his home. Returning to the car, Gibson told Andy to name his price.

Andy’s club had paid about $1,700 just two weeks earlier. Gibson offered them $3,400. Double their money. How could they refuse? Gibson could be persuasive.

Several months later, plans had been made. He and his wife, Louise intended to build the most livable house on Maui.

The house would be atop a knoll and would be oriented so that the normal tradewinds would blow straight through it. Monkeypod and other shade trees would also provide relief from the sun. A lanai would extend around the house and lead to a pool that would be surrounded by palm trees.

Fort Vancouver

Friends saw the bulldozers and kidded him — are you building a fort? Gibson liked that characterization and immediately called it “Fort Vancouver.”

Gibson said that it was not named after Fort Vancouver in Washington, just north of Portland, Ore., but for the Canadian city of Vancouver, 250 miles to the north, where he grew up. In addition, he considered Vancouver Island, where his family had sawmills, to be part of the namesake.

George Vancouver, who sailed with Capt. James Cook, had extensive ties to both Maalaea Bay on Maui and British Columbia. Following Cook’s death, Vancouver commanded the “Discovery” and “Chatham.” In 1792, they stopped in Maalaea for fresh water.

Hawaiians swam or paddled out to greet them. They feasted together on the beach that afternoon, Gibson noted. Vancouver returned in 1793 and 1794.

Visiting friends

Louise and Gordon had many friends come to visit and decided to build a guest cottage for them. They ordered 5,000 board feet of lumber from his sawmill. It was mis-read and soon, 50,000 board feet landed on Maui.

What to do with all that lumber, they wondered. They had lots of friends, and decided to build 10 guest houses for them. Gibson called them the Maui Lu Cottages, for his wife.

The guests enjoyed the pool next to Gibson’s home, waking Louise as early as 7 a.m. with their kids’ splashing and shouting.

Rather than close the pool until noon, as Louise suggested, Gordon built a second pool, this one shaped like the island of Maui — 104 feet long and 65 feet wide.

Over time, the Gibsons added a Polynesian style longhouse show room and restaurant for their guests, a small golf course, tennis courts and shuffleboard. Gibson brought in the best Hawaiian entertainers. The phone kept ringing with reservations.

Gibson purchased two Canadian Thunderbird totem poles from the Mowachaht tribe of Nootka Sound. He shipped them to Hawaii and erected them beachside of the Maui Lu overlooking Maalaea Bay, as part of a monument to commemorate where Vancouver came ashore when he visited Maui over 200 years ago.

Maui Lu Resort

By 1964, the property was no longer a private home with a few guest cottages. It had grown to 180 units and the name was officially the Maui Lu Resort. It was the only hotel on Maui’s south shore. Room rates were an affordable $12-$29 a night.

The Gibsons sold their “Fort” for $9 million, not bad for an initial investment of $3,400. I asked readers if they ever stayed there and what they remembered.

Donivee Laird said, “In October, 1967, my husband, Buck, and I spent half of our honeymoon at the Maui Lu. The other half was on the Big Island.

“The Maui Lu was a great, Hawaiian-style, hotel for relaxing. It had a nice pool, delightful grounds, lovely open dining room and was across the road from the beach.

Mal Chan stayed at the Maui Lu hotel around 1970. “I had my own little cottage with my name placed outside. It was wonderful and I enjoyed my stay there.

“I passed it many times thereafter but never stayed again. I’d like to know what has happened to these unique guest houses?”

“I stayed at the Maui Lu once, in 1983,” Steve Timberlake told me. “I enjoyed it because the room was huge by today’s standards. It had a good-sized pool, too. The hotel was on a slight rise from the main road, so you could lie by the pool, read your Wilbur Smith novel and look out over the road to the ocean.

“It was a pleasant place, and I was sorry to see it pass out of the original owners’ hands.”

Mike Winchatz, who’s worked for Aston since 1973, said he remembered when Alexander & Baldwin would burn the sugar cane fields to concentrate sugar in the stalks just prior to harvesting. The resort’s swimming pool would be covered with floating ash.

Epilogue

The Maui Lu closed in 2008 and the totem poles were stored under a building that had a dirt floor. It flooded in a storm. They were deemed unrepairable. The Maui Lu changed hands several times. Today it is the site of the Maui Bay Villas, a Hilton Grand Vacations time share. The Maui Lu is only visible in our rearview mirrors.

Eleventh Province?

We often hear how Las Vegas is Hawaii’s “Ninth Island.” In researching this article, I found that Maui was referred to as Canada’s “Eleventh Province” as far back as the early 1960s. (Canada has 10 provinces and three territories, eh.)

The Hawaii Visitor’s Bureau reported in 1972 that 120,000 Canadians came to Hawaii in 1971, and over 40,000 of them vacationed on Maui.

About 8% of Maui’s visitors were from Canada, but they stayed longer and accounted for over 20% of tourism spending.

The Province newspaper from Calgary, Alberta, wrote that this was due to the substantial Canadian investment in resorts in Kihei, Lahaina, Kaanapali and Napili, which has some of the finest beaches in the world.

Canadians, such as Gordon Gibson, owned one third of the resorts there at the time.

So, that is the story of the Maui Lu Resort. It began as a private house nicknamed Fort Vancouver, but a misunderstood lumber order made it a resort by accident.

If you visited the Maui Lu or know more about the totem poles, please let me know.

———

Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.