Designer Bridgid Coulter Turns Her Hand to a Kohanaiki Hawaiian Hideaway

 

One on the newest communities on the Big Island of Hawaii now offers luxe homes with television celebrity designer decor. Actor Bridgid Coulter was recently a featured interior designer on the Emmy Award-winning OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) television series Home Made Simple. The Santa Monica-based designer was also tapped by Kohanaiki, a private club residential community located on the Kona Coast, to outfit a multi-million dollar model home befitting the posh setting that was once a retreat for Hawaiian royalty. Read more about this incredible property with a plethora of amenities, and residential options fit for a king or queen.

The Designer

Though she has a string of acting credits to her name (such as Apple’s Vital Signs, HBO’s Westworld, TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles, and Showtime’s House of Lies) Bridgid Coulter also has the credentials to back up her thriving interior design role. She followed a UCLA undergraduate degree in theatre with UCLA’s post-graduate Arch ID Interior Design Program, a master’s level equivalent through extension, and is an allied member of ASID. Through her Venice, Calif., showroom, Coulter offers interior design services for residential, commercial, and public spaces, as well as vending a signature textile line, home accessories, and custom furniture. An online store is planned to open in the fall of 2017. She was featured in the Oprah network show, Home Made Simple in April.

The Coulter-Designed Home: Hale ‘Alani 47

It says a lot that Coulter and her husband, actor Don Cheadle, are members of Kohanaiki, the private Hawaiian community for which she is doing interior design. Who better to understand the vibe of the area and create interiors to fit the lifestyle and setting?

Hale ‘Alani 47 is a model home in the Kohanaiki’s Hale ‘Alani residences, one of several residential options offered. Khoi Le of Glazier Le Architects drew inspiration from the topography of the land in the area in the design of the homes here, which feature copper roofs and western cedar and stucco walls. Located in between the 7th and 8th holes of the resort’s private golf course, the home boasts both an ocean and golf course view. The house has a total of five ensuite bedrooms, including a two-bedroom, two-bath guest house. Interior space measures 3,103 square feet; this opens to 1,260 square feet of covered lanai. Pools surround the living and master bedroom space:

In this beautiful setting, spending as much time as possible out-of-doors is the way to go:

 

The home is fully furnished in natural tones, enhanced by rosy hues echoing the sunlit colors from the reflection off the copper roof.

Here’s a bedroom suite which opens to that lanai/pool space:

Coulter is known for her signature line of eco-conscious textiles screen-printed on natural linen with water-based dyes. Note the careful attention to fabrics here. So soothing!

Via sliding mahogany doors, there’s a seamless flow between interior and exterior:

The great room opens to a modern kitchen:

There’s a separate guest “hale” or house. Hale is a traditional Hawaiian canoe hut with a high-thatched roof. Here the term is used for a separate two-bedroom, two-bath cottage:

Coulter custom-designed much of the furniture, including this L-shaped twin bed arrangement which maximizes use of space in the room and fits perfectly under the corner windows. She’s the mother of two children herself, so she has special insight into a set-up that works well with kids:

The design affords splendid sunset views:

 

The Kohanaiki Community

Founded in 2011, the development is a 450-acre private club community set on one and a half miles of shoreline on the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, between the Kona International Airport and the town of Kailua-Kona. Cultural sites, anchialine ponds, and ancient lava flows abound here.”Ono Lane,” one of the area’s most abundant fishing and diving areas, lies off-shore nearby.

In keeping with the times, an emphasis in the community is restoration and preservation of the area’s environment and cultural heritage via careful maintenance of indigenous plants and wildlife, protection of historical archeological sites, and eco-sensitive building practices.

Residential options within the community included townhouses, single-family homes, and homesite lots ranging from $3 million to more than $20 million. Interests in shared ownership property begins at $650K.

The community’s clubhouse and spa encompasses 67,000 square feet on two levels set on 6.6 acres. On the top level is the 120-seat chop house & sushi bar restaurant, a business center, and a children’s center. In the lower level, members have access to a 21-seat movie theatre, a four-lane bowling alley, a recreation center with pool tables and video games, a cigar lounge, wine storage lockers, private dining rooms, a brewing facility, and a library housing a collection of rare Hawaiian books and texts. On the shoreline, the beach bar and restaurant offers spectacular oceanside views. An on-site, organic garden provides fresh produce for the restaurants and for member use in the residences.

 

A spa and indoor/outdoor fitness center with a 25-meter lap pool round out the array of on-site amenities. Kohanaiki’s “Adventure Team” of island residents are available to members as well, to coordinate and guide deep sea-fishing, outrigger canoe paddling, stand-up paddle boarding, ocean adventure in a 39-foot Yellow Fin boat, snorkeling, whale-watching and tours of the local rainforests.

The club’s Rees Jones-designed 18-hole golf course extends through more than 100 acres of lakes, lava flows, and anchialine ponds. It includes six waterfront holes, more than any other course in Hawaii.

Coulter summed up what she, personally, enjoys about the community:

“As someone who designs in the hectic, sprawling city of Los Angeles, traveling to Kohanaiki is a true paradise,” she noted. “Being a member of Kohanaiki is a dream, and our neighbors are a fun, eclectic group of individuals from all over the world. It’s the grown-up idea of Disneyland with world class facilities, great food, and impeccable service — you experiences the ultimate in ocean adventure, fun, and relaxation, all while being completely in tune with the island lifestyle. I arrive in Kohanaiki and my shoulders immediately drop — regardless of whether I am there to work or play.”

Hale ‘Alani 47, with interior design by Bridgid Coulter, is listed at $5.7 million. Additional fees are required for club membership. The Kohanaiki website offers more details.