HROUGH LARGE but nondescript iron gates
at the end of a mildly affluent, suburban cul-de-
sac near the foot of Diamond Head in Honolulu,
a long driveway leads to an entry court. A pair of
carved stone camels flanks a large timber door,
seemingly the only access point to a structure
that if not for the surrounding tropical flora feels
more North Africa than Hawaii. There’s a sobriety,
albeit slightly exotic, to the entry court; beyond, however, lies what
can only be described as an orientalist fantasy of architecture,
garden and interior design, replete, most significantly, with an
exceptional collection of Islamic art. Welcome to Shangri La, the
magnificent Hawaiian estate of American heiress Doris Duke.
The only child of tobacco and energy magnate James Buchanan
Duke, Doris was dubbed “the richest girl in the world” after
inheriting the bulk of her father’s vast estate when he died in 1925,
and she was just 12. And in what would be the beginning of a lifelong
quest for privacy, Duke envisioned Shangri La when she was 22,
during a 10-month around-the-world honeymoon trip with her new
husband, aspiring politician James Cromwell.
The marriage proved short-lived but Duke fell in love with the
Mughal architecture of India, commissioning a bedroom and
bathroom suite in elaborately carved and inlaid marble from the
descendants of craftsmen who fashioned the Taj Mahal centuries
before. Intended for Cromwell’s home on the Palm Beach estate of
his mother, society doyenne Eva Stotesbury, the project took
a drastic turn during the final stop of the honeymoon where Duke
fell in love again, with Hawaii.
Attracted to the island’s relaxed environment and great, natural
beauty, the couple extended their stay from three weeks to four
months as Duke conceived her sanctuary; the Palm Beach plans
were quickly repurposed for Honolulu. She later explained, “The
idea of building a Near Eastern house in Honolulu may seem
fantastic to many. But precisely at the time I fell in love with Hawaii
and I decided I could never live anywhere else, a [Mughal]-inspired
bedroom and bathroom planned for another house was being
completed for me in India so there was nothing to do but have it
shipped to Hawaii and build a house around it.”
Constructed between 1936 and 1938, the property’s original
plans by esteemed architects Wyeth and King would undergoa series of transformations. What was essentially a Modernist
design that paid homage to Mughal architecture took on Moorish
traits following a trip to Europe and Morocco in 1937, and softer,
more lyrical Persian influences following the Cromwells’ month in
Iran in 1938. Duke collected vigorously — more than 2500 pieces
of Islamic art — and embellished Shangri La with acquisitions
and renovations throughout her lifetime, such as the installation
of the Damascus Room in 1955 and the Turkish Room in 1979.
hitecturewasalteredtoaccommodatearapidlyexpanding
ection and the collection was altered to accommodate the ever-
changing architecture.
One of the great, largely unspoken
philanthropists of the 20th century, Doris
Duke died in 1993 at the age of 80. In
accordance with her will, the Doris Duke
Foundation for Islamic Art was established
to own and manage Shangri La and promote
the study of Islamic art and culture, effectively
opening the doors to the highly personal
retreat. As the collection is vast, so too is the
story of Shangri La and one woman’s passion
and determination to shape her environment
and create her own private paradise. VL
Visit shangrilahawaii.org.Doris Duke envisioned
Shangri La when she was
22, during a 10-month
around-the-world
honeymoon with her new
husband, James Cromwell.
clockwise from top: the dining room, which Duke
redesigned in the ’60s. Doris Duke’s Shangri La
by Donald Albrecht and Thomas Mellins, with
photography by Tim Street-Porter (Rizzoli, $105).
Duke and Cromwell in front of Shangri La.ICONIC STYLE
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