We zoned out yesterday afternoon and watched a made for HBO movie on cable, ‘Bernard and Doris.’ Based on the last years of the life of Doris Duke and detailing her relationship with butler Bernard Lafferty, it was Keith’s choice. He often seeks, particularly on a Sunday afternoon, entertainments that he terms ‘mindless’, by which he means completely escapist. However, with Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes in the eponymous roles, I presumed the movie must have had something going for it. 
It did, as it happened- camp performances that must have been great fun for the stars to do, and some terrific interiors. I would recommend it.
Unfortunately, what’s not in the film, although it’s frequently mentioned, is Doris Duke’s home in Honolulu, Shangri-la. From what I’ve understood, this vaguely Middle Eastern villa complex was constructed during a phase of one of Miss Duke’s many enthusiasms- in this case, actually, a confluence of several- Moorish art and architecture, Hawaiian vacations, and surfing, particularly when it involved the developed physique of dusky surfers. How many enthusiasms is that? In any event, the outcome was an interesting architectural confection.
Interesting, but not really very successful. One of the magnificent inherent features of Hawaii is the beauty of its landscape. As it happens, my time living there in the late 1970’s spoiled me for a view in every place I’ve lived since. It is difficult not to wax eloquent about the view of the Ko’olaus that I had from my very first apartment, to the view of the West Maui Mountains from my house in Pukalani, a quarter of the way up Haleakala on Maui. My last permanent Hawaiian abode was on the ocean, with a view from Hilo Bay up to the northwest along the Hamakua Coast. Everywhere, extraordinary natural beauty.
It is a disappointment therefore, that Miss Duke didn’t take much advantage of the fantastic natural setting that her Black Point home affords. Although one can certainly hear the waves crashing along the rocky shoreline, there is precious little opportunity to see them unless one exits the house and enters the garden. Shangri-la, in terms of dwelling space, is largely a series of enclosed rooms- inward looking, with a surprising lack of vistas. I wonder why that is? Built in 1937 under the guidance of architect Marion Sims Wyeth, one wonders how much better the setting could have been used to advantage by Vladimir Ossipoff. His Boettcher house was built in nearby Kailua at exactly the same time, with its vistas all facing the ocean. As I think about it, the only significant ocean vista from Shangri-la is an oblique one obtained from the living room.
It is odd, now I think about it, how many, and how frequently, dwelling spaces of the period in Hawaii, even hotels where the natural landscape would be a selling feature, take little or no advantage of their sites. Continuing to use Honolulu as an example, our favorite home away from home the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, as originally constructed, made very little use of its site in providing views to the ocean and Diamond Head. Even today, the makai rooms in the original section of the hotel all have smallish windows that provide only a letterbox view of the ocean, and, at best, an oblique view of that most famous feature of the Honolulu landscape, Diamond Head. What’s interesting about the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and makes it similar to Shangri-la, is that it is likewise designed in an ‘alien’ architectural style. Its hispano-moorish architecture shows a clear stylistic link with its down the beach near-neighbor, Shangri-la. Unfortunately, both show an indifference toward not only the natural setting, but any notion of an Hawaiian aesthetic. Val Ossipoff grappled with these issues during the entire tenure of his career, achieving some considerable, and enduring, success. While his Boettcher House and several homes in Kahala, particularly at Puu Panini, no more than a literal stone’s throw from Shangri-la, are as fresh and vital in appearance today as when they were built, Miss Duke’s residence is, visually, no more than an anachronistic survivor. I would venture to say it is, in the main, interesting largely because of the woman who built it.