Keōua Hale, Victorian mansion in downtown Honolulu, US.
Keōua Hale was a Second Empire mansion in downtown Honolulu featuring a mansard roof, wide open-air lanais, and gas-lit rooms throughout. The interiors displayed elaborate plaster moldings and painted frescoes on the walls and ceilings.
The first residence on the Kaʻakopua site burned down in 1873, prompting plans for a grander house. Architect Charles J. Hardy, an American from Chicago working at Honolulu's Enterprise Planing Mill, designed it; it was finished in spring 1883 and was larger than ʻIolani Palace. Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani died on 24 May 1883, and her remains lay in state in the new house. It later passed to Princess Bernice Pauahi, who died in it.
The house was the setting for Ruth's 1883 grand luau and an evening ball attended by Honolulu society of both native and foreign birth. After the festivities she fell ill and left for Kailua on Hawaiʻi island; her remains were brought back to Honolulu on 24 May and lay in state in the new house.
The building was located on Queen Emma Street in central Honolulu, though it no longer stands today. The site remains easily accessible by public transit that connects the business district and historic downtown areas.
Keōua Hale was larger than ʻIolani Palace, and its remains lay in state there after Princess Ruth died in May 1883, before the property passed to Princess Bernice Pauahi, who also died in the house.
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