Maui vacation house is a five-unit compound

Sunset, Jan, 1989

What's the best way to design a vacation house for three generations? For their retreat on Maui, Hawaii, these owners decided on a family compound.

The comfortable living spaces, designed for up to four families, encourage generations to interact, yet permit privacy and independence. Such a compound can be built all at once, or done a unit at a time. For this project, architect Alan Liddle of Tacoma designed four living units, all the same size and shape but with different interior configurations. A smaller fifth building functions as a laundry room, with space to stow luggage and beach gear. A lanai in the middle attracts all ages, whether for playing bridge or reading stories to grandchildren.

One of the units, ideal for a family with youngsters, is self-contained (sleeping alcove, bath, living-dining room, and small kitchen). Another has a bedroom, bunk room, bath, and office. The third has two bedrooms, each with bath. And the common room, shown below, is a partitionless space with a kitchen and livingdining room.

A wooden deck, raised 1 to 4 feet off the ground, wraps around the entire complex. All building materials for this complex had to be shipped from the Mainland, and regular architectural supervision wasn't possible. For economy and uniformity, standard components were used whenever possible in the almost identical buildings. Sliding glass doors and roof vents encourage the natural flow of cooling breezes; they conserve energy by alleviating the need for air conditioning.