Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort
Eighty-one acres over an abandoned village and its ponds, left empty for twelve years after a tsunami.
Kona Village holds eighty-one acres of lava coast at Ka'upulehu, on the Kona side of Hawaii Island, around Kahuwai Bay. The ground carries an abandoned Hawaiian village, anchialine pools and archaeological sites, and the resort keeps a cultural centre whose stated purpose is to learn how best to preserve and support them. Johnno Jackson and his wife Helen found the village in 1965, having sailed the South Pacific on their schooner, and built the first Kona Village on that discovery. A hundred and fifty hale and thirty-seven suites stand on the same ground now.
In March 2011 an earthquake off the coast of Japan sent a tsunami across the Pacific and Kona Village was swept away. The land then stood undeveloped for more than a decade, and the resort reopened on the first of July 2023. Twelve empty years is the fact this column records: a holding of eighty-one acres on one of the most valuable coasts in the United States was held and not used, which is a statement about ownership rather than about hospitality. What the estate holds, it holds over antiquities and over ponds that are themselves protected.
Eighty-one acres held empty for twelve years. The tsunami of 2011 took the village and the ground was not rebuilt until 2023. Holding land unused on this coast is itself the claim.
The ground carries antiquities. An abandoned village, archaeological sites and anchialine pools lie inside the boundary. What this estate owns, it owns under an obligation it did not write.
Who it is not for
Kona Village is wrong for anyone who wants a long-settled house, since the resort reopened in 2023 after twelve years of empty ground. It is wrong for travellers who want sand underfoot, as this is a lava coast and the bay is the exception on it. It is wrong for anyone who wants to be left alone with the land, because the archaeology and the ponds are managed and interpreted. For the neighbouring holding, Four Seasons Hualalai sits on the same stretch of Ka'upulehu.
Sources
- The operator's own fact sheet - eighty-one acres of geologic landscape on the Kona Coast; a hundred and fifty guest hale plus thirty-seven kauhale suites; opened 1 July 2023; established in 1965 by Johnno Jackson and his wife Helen, who found the abandoned Ka'upulehu village after sailing the South Pacific on their schooner; in March 2011 an earthquake off the coast of Japan sent a tsunami across the Pacific and Kona Village was swept away, and the property remained undeveloped for over a decade; Kahuwai Bay is described as the heart of the resort and the launching point for its ocean programme; a cultural centre honours the anchialine pools and archaeological sites and provides insight on how best to preserve and support them
- NOT STATED in the fact sheet consulted - the King's Trail, the distance from Kona airport, and the tenure of the eighty-one acres. None is carried.
- Johnno and Helen Jackson are not held in the Library; no LHL-P code is linked and codes are requested.
Verification
- Official source
- Not yet checked
- Property confirmation
- Pending
- Last verified
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Booking
Private Resorts arranges each stay on request, quoting the rates available for the resort and dates. No benefit should be assumed unless it is confirmed in writing for the individual reservation.
Request a proposalClassified by The Resort Collection House · The Register · Edition 2026 · LHL-E-351
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