In 1937, a wealthy 64-year-old patron and philanthropist, Robert Allerton (1873-1964), bought the 125-acre McBryde Estate on Lawa’i Bay, paying $50,000 for the property that had once belonged to Reine Emma.
In 1937, a wealthy 64-year-old patron and philanthropist, Robert Allerton (1873-1964), bought the 125-acre McBryde Estate on Lawa’i Bay, paying $50,000 for the property that had once belonged to Reine Emma.
Soon after, Allerton’s partner, architect John Gregg, began designing a new home which they built near the bay and furnished with antique furniture and art treasures.
Allerton and Gregg renamed their estate Lawa’i Kai, then began to design and landscape gardens planted with rare and exotic tropical plants that would eventually become the Allerton Gardens of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.
Working alongside their help – mostly Hawaiians who shared their knowledge of native plants with them – they cleared the land of haole koa and lantana, all without the use of a bulldozer which would have changed the natural outline of the earth, uncovering old walls, house sites and burial caves in the process, and treating those antiquities with respect.
They also discovered the remains of irrigation ditches and ponds that the Hawaiians had built long ago when they diverted water from Lawa’i Creek to irrigate the taro they had grown throughout the valley. of Lawa’i.
Near the beach was Queen Emma’s cottage, and nearby was Pu’u Kiloia, a large basalt hill that had been used since ancient times by Hawaiians as a platform from which to spot shoals of Pisces.
During this time, Allerton continued his philanthropic efforts, generously donating funds to several causes, including the Honolulu Welcoming Gardens and the Honolulu Academy of the Arts.
In 1963, Allerton petitioned the US Congress to establish a non-profit botanical garden at Lawa’i Kai. And in 1964, an act of Congress created the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden (renamed the National Tropical Botanical Garden), which would encompass Allerton Gardens.
Gregg inherited the Lawa’i Kai property of Allerton and was director and generous supporter of the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden until his death in 1986, bequeathing most of his estate to the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden.
Today, Allerton and McBryde Gardens are home to thousands of species of plants and fruit trees, with guided tours available to the public.