Urban Archeology

In his travels in the steamy jungles of Orange County, Baxdog came across these Lost Islands of Tiki Civilization. We explored them the other night as we planned for his big luau.

Hanakiki 1147 memory lane. Yes, we were literally strolling down memory lane.

The A-frame by the pool The "outriggers" had rotted and had been cut off and puttied


The centerpost to the Aframe was this Tiki

The thatch had been painted white.



The Islander. The entrance A-frame. You can see the outriggers had rotted and been cut off.

The pool



South Seas Island Paradise in OC.
Mahalo,
Al

[ Edited by: Alnshely on 2002-10-08 11:13 ]

What, an apartment complex that I did not know off? Impossible!
Good work guys. I assume the Hanakiki had no other Tikis on the grounds. The only reson those poolhut tikis have survived renovations are that they are structural.
These Islander apts are the ones that Ely Hedley, "the original Beachcomber" and Bamboo Ben's grand uncle, retired to, so those are his Tikis. The waterfall complex in the back must have been amazing in his time...

Great photos! Thanks for taking the time to post them! It would be great if there was a web page somewhere with a list of exiisting Tiki-apartments, where they are & pix of what remains.....

Anyway - thanks again. The apartments really remind me of growing up in O.C. in the 1970s...

The Hanakiki is a little hard to find, but it’s really just around the corner from the Islander complex. It’s at the end of a short alley off of Memory Lane and easy to miss. I’ve been exploring and photographing them both for a few years now. I visit them whenever I visit Hilo Hattie’s at The Block in Orange - they’re just a mile away.

Stepping into the Hanakiki is like stepping completely out of California and into the pages of an old Southern novel, or an ancient abandoned plantation somewhere in Louisiana. It’s a completely walled-in community of small bungalow-apartments. The trees have grown so huge over the years that they completely block out any sunlight and undergrowth is thick and un-pruned. Giant flies buzz in the pools of filtered sunlight that make it through to the meanering pathways, and spiderwebs cover the eaves of the houses and the upper branches of the vast trees. Dead leaves are piled on roofs and the eaves sag ominously. It’s so quiet that you can almost hear the buildings creaking and the termites slowly devouring the bungalows, gradually returning the whole place into a virgin jungle again. You can see repairs that were begun years ago and never completed.

Bigbro, you are right, in that the only tiki remaining is the pole for the A-frame pool house. I’ve searched diligently through the ivy for others, but with no luck. The pole itself is interesting. It is a metal pole, and the hollow palm-trunk tikis were slid over it in sections to sheath it. The thin skin of these tikis have caused them to rot from the inside out over the years, and they are beginning to fall apart, but that just adds to the overall ancient feel of this place.

If I didn’t own a house, I would love to live there, though. It’s quiet and dark and completely secluded. A great refuge from the bustling city outside. The thatched back-wall of the pool-house, which has been painted white, would make a great screen for some poolside showings of The Hawaiian Eye, in my opinion. Based on some of the lovely bikini-clad wahines I’ve seen sunning themselves by the pool on a summer afternoon, I think the Hanakiki may be inhabited by a younger crowd, but I don’t really know.

I hope Baxdog’s, Al’s & Shely’s excitement at finding the Hanakiki and the Islander was as great as my own. I think that when we stumble across these great, hidden relics, we discover that we’re all urban archeologists under the skin.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-10-08 15:41 ]

OK,
SO, now you want to step all over our little glory here in Santa Ana.
EXCUSE ME, I personally did not see you crawling in the bushes looking for TIKI.
And I did not see any posts or pics from you on these places. Oh yes, it is soooooo easy to step up and say, no I found it first, or as my kids say "I knew that"
Well MISTER, I traveled thru 10 miles of coconut snow, with nothing to drink but Orange Bitters (good thing we had 4 wheel drive). It was hot, we almost died, BUT we found it 1st 47 years ago, nobody had moved in yet, the Architect had just finished the drawing, the land owner just signed the deed.
I know it was us 1st. It was, it was, it was!
And yes that was the 1st ever digital camera.
I invented that too!

PS. You made it sound so romantic, I want to go back and kiss Bong again. oops sorry bongo

I have pics of all those apt. buildings "pre-paint!", that my "Garandfather""Eli" did. One of these days I will "sell out" re-print all the pics and sell them on e-bay to all you poly perv's. As for now, we offer a few in the store.

p.s. I used to live at the Kona Kai apts. in Westminster and they had a few tikis around. Not sure if they still do. South east corner of Westminster and Hoover, one street back across from the shcool. Someone should check it out. Maybe a new discovery.

Hey,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've just discovered a brand-new tiki site on Oak Ridge in Santa Ana. This elderly gentleman's backyard is simply amazing! Climbing over the wall one morning, I was able to surreptitiously snap these fine photos - the first to be seen anywhere!

There are two tikis in this patio area. Upon close examination, I was able to discern that they were carved using nothing more than a pair of toenail clippers and an emery board. The owner of these beauties is strictly old-school and probably tiki royalty.

By balancing on an inflatable pool-toy, I was able to snap this remarkable photo.

This undersea tableau is in pristinely-preserved condition, even though the house does not appear to have been re-painted since the 1960s!

Peering in through the sliding glass doors, I was able to percieve many more tikis peering from every corner. I tell you - this place has got to be my greatest discovery in years!

Unfortunately, at this point, the owner emerged from the garage with a shotgun and I was forced to hightail it back over the wall! I picked up some buckshot in my backside but it was definitely worth the experience. In fact, I'm planning another trip back there next weekend on the 19th. Anyone interested in going with me?

Sabu

Sabu, that is hilarious. Everybody, those pix are of the Baxdog Estate. Lovely isn't it?

This whole thread is great! The report on the find, fine prose, and excellent humor made me glad I dropped in tonight. It's exactly the sort of post that made Tiki Central such a fun and intersting place.

Baxdog,

The only kissing on me you did was my a$$!