A visit to a Quintessential Jungalow

Haiku is filled with nooks and crannies.  If people want to hide out on Maui but don’t want to live too far from Costco - like Hana or Nahiku, they often end up in Haiku or Huelo. The area is punctuated with hidden driveways, meandering roads, rickety gates, deep gulches, and secret estates.  

Side view of a Haiku jungalow over a gulch.

Some people hunker down in Haiku and unplug from the world of internet, shopping, and a social life. They rarely go into town (Kahului).  One can actually be a hidden hermit. Haiku is just not like suburban Kihei or Pukalani, fancy Wailea or Kapalua. Things in Haiku are not linear, and often the construction is not very left-brained either.

DH and I got a chance to visit the jungalow (jungle bungalow) where he used to live. Watch the one minute video above. The people living there said it was ok to take pics, etc., just as long as we didn’t show their clothes hanging on the line or the side of the deck with the kids’ toys. No problem.  

The property also had a main house, with extremely funky architecture, in an Alice in Wonderland kind of way. 

Jungalow style Main House -
notice plants growing up the outside wall of the house. 

Nothing looks level, and if the builders didn’t know what to do, they put in an extra stairway. There used to be public events at this main house, art showings and food tastings, but the County shut that down. I think they wanted the house to have a restaurant permit. The pool at the main house was full of plants and weeds. I wanted to get closer but DH was concerned that I might stumble upon a pot patch, so I didn’t.

Surf shack... Yes, there's a reason it's called that. 

The jungalow where DH used to live was tucked on the side of the gulch. Other jungalows and surf shacks peer out above the ridge, or behind trees.  This is classic Haiku – intriguing and quirky. Do people really live out here? Yes, they do. Shhhh... don't tell anyone. 

Way up above, a jungalow on the hillside.