There’s a mountain on Oahu named for the Greek myth of Tantalus, for whom satisfaction was always just out of reach. The road up is winding, filled with switchbacks, hanging vines, and vistas where, on mild nights, couples linger in cars against the backdrop of Honolulu’s city lights.
Hidden amid wild avocado trees and the heart-shaped leaves of houseplants is a long driveway leading to a crystallized snapshot in time: the Liljestrand House, designed by architect Vladimir Ossipoff in 1948 and built for Betty and Howard Liljestrand in 1952 for $40,000 at the time.
Credited with adapting midcentury modern for the tropics, Ossipoff designed homes and buildings in Hawaii with certain shared features: Japanese carpentry and expertise, the strategic use of trade winds for cooling (he abhorred air conditioning), and the merging of outside and inside space.
This style, now known as Hawaiian Modern, is on display in the Liljestrand House, one of Oahu’s many historic homes — and one of the few that is open to visitors.