Built between 1879 and 1882, this American Florentine Revival-style building was the former royal palace for the Kingdom of Hawaii, designed by Thomas J. Baker, Charles J. Wall, and Isaac Moore for King David Kalākaua.  The palace was the home of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Hawaii between 1882 and 1893, the executive building of the provisional government and Republic of Hawaii from 1893 until 1898, the capitol building of the Territory of Hawaii from 1898 until 1959, and the capitol building of the State of Hawaii from 1959 until 1969.  During its time as a territorial and state capitol, the building was altered and renovated, removing or neglecting several original features, enclosing parts of the lanais that encircle the building’s exterior, adding additional office space outside of the building’s original footprint, and replacing some of the original windows with french doors.  The building replaced an earlier ‘Iolani Palace, a western-style structure with elements reminiscent of the Greek Revival style and Creole cottages in the United States, which stood on the same site, and was built in 1844-45.  The earlier palace was an aliʻi, which featured no sleeping quarters, but included a dining room, throne room, and a reception room, being only about ⅓ the size of the present building.  The previous building had similarities to the present structure, including a raised lanai wrapping around the entire structure, with a hipped roof, a doric colonnade, large windows, and separate homes on the grounds where the royal family lived and slept.  By 1874, when King David Kalākaua ascended to power, the original palace, built of wood was in poor condition, and in 1879, the building was demolished and construction began on the present palace.  Inspired by knowledge of European royal palaces and architecture, the palace features four corner towers and towers on the front and rear facades, which all feature mansard roofs topped with cornices and cresting, arched double-hung windows, quoins, decorative relief panels, circular medallions on the arched and circular roof dormers, and flagpoles atop each mansard roof.  Between the towers and on the second and third floors of the front and rear towers are lanais on the first and second floors of each side of the building, with staircases to the entrances on the front and rear at the foot of the towers, corinthian columns supporting arches, decorative balustrades, iron railings on the second floor, large windows and door openings with decorative trim surrounds, decorative tile floors, decorative ceilings, a cornice above, and a decorative railing wrapping the base of the building’s large low-slope and hipped roof.  Underneath the lanais and enclosed spaces of the second and third floors of the palace is the basement, which is surrounded by a light well, with access provided to exterior entrances on the sides of the building via staircases.  Inside, the palace has a layout with large rooms on either side of a central hallway on the first and second floors, which are linked via a large grand staircase, with the first floor hallway known as the Grand Hall.  On one side of the Grand Hall is the throne room, taking up the entirety of this part of the first floor, with a dressing room behind the thrones, while on the other side of the Grand Hall is the Blue Room, a reception hall, and the State Dining Room, with a bathroom, and butler’s pantry between the State Dining Room and the Grand Hall.  On the second floor, the hallway features a ceiling with two decorative medallions on either side of a central stained glass dome, with the room where Queen Liliʻuokalani was imprisoned for 9 months following the second of the Wilcox rebellions in 1895 sitting on the ocean-facing side of this end of the building, with a restroom and closet between this room and the Queen’s Bedroom.  All bedrooms on this floor are linked via diagonal hallways to the second floor rooms in the corner towers, which are utilized as small sitting rooms.  On the opposite side of the hallway is the King’s Bedroom, King’s Office, and Music Room, as well as an additional bathroom.  In the basement, the building is split by two hallways that intersect at the base of the basement stairs, running between the building’s service areas, including the kitchen, as well as administrative offices for the Kingdom of Hawaii, with most of the space now mostly housing exhibits and display cases.  The interior of the building features extensive detailing and decoration that was restored after the building ceased being utilized as the State Capitol in 1969, including grand carved and reproduction staircases and balusters, decorative plaster ceilings with medallions, decorative crown moulding, carved wood doors and trim, wood floors, bathrooms with built-in water closets, sinks, bathtubs, and showers, period appropriate light fixtures, as well as period and reproduction furnishings and pieces of art that were in the building during the Kingdom of Hawaii period.  The palace was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1962, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.  Following the completion of the Hawaii State capitol in 1969, a 9-year restoration program was carried out on the palace, with the palace opening in 1978 as a museum, run by the nonprofit organization Friends of ʻIolani Palace, that preserves the structure and tells the story of the Hawaiian Royal family who once resided and ruled from the palace, as well as allowing for visitors to admire the beautiful restored and preserved details of the interior and exterior of the building.  On January 17, 1993, a vigil was held on the grounds of the palace, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii by a group consisting of primarily white American businessmen, deposing the monarchy that had ruled the kingdom from 1795 until 1893.  The grounds of the palace features restored landscaping intended to show what the palace looked like at the time of its completion, and the relocated ‘Iolani Barracks that once stood on the present site of the present state capitol, which now sits to the northeast of the main palace.  The building is the only former royal Palace in the United States, and sits in the middle of park-like grounds surrounded by state, federal, and local government buildings in the heart of Downtown Honolulu.
w_lemay
CC BY-SA 2.0
<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/59081381@N03/52222104102/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/59081381@N03/52222104102/</a>