The Monkey Hut: Outpost - Portland, OR

The Monkey Hut Outpost is nestled deep in the caverns and grotto of an unexplored south seas island. It is our own Swiss Family Tiki-house; The shortest distance between The Enchanted Tiki Room and The Pirates of the Caribbean.

I completed this version [...Outpost] of the Monkey Hut in the middle of December, 2018. The tear-down for this renovation began on April 3 2018. I have been working on this space thought for more than ten years, though: This version is the third large renovation project for the space. We've had home (tiki) bars before this house (including Monkey Hut version 1), but this is my first basement.

I'll be sharing recent, historical, and current work on my own slice of magic in this thread and I'll see y'all in your own threads and posts.

Cheers!

Love all the pics, your space looks amazing! It did before your renovations too. I watched you live on Humu's broadcast and asked you the question about making your own syrup(my handle was Brain on there). It made me a little less afraid of making my own. Now I've done a few batches of stuff I can't get, but mostly I buy B.G. Reynolds, I like supporting the local biz. :) It'd be cool to see a close up of your bar and behind the bar setup! I'm hoping to be working on my bar this summer if I can get my building finished..the snow in PDX today doesn't help.

Thanks for the Instagram add too, I'll be following there as well!

Cheers!!

I really love the layered effects and you've nailed the proper lighting. What a great escape that sets the perfect mood.

I like the collection of plant life above the couch. What is on the wall that the couch is facing/

Sweet
Made me thirsty
Cheers

Love it! I'm a big fan of foliage and you pull off the Swiss Family Treehouse look really well!

Wow, that looks awesome. But needs more pics, lots more. Subscribed...

Wow, it looks great!

Fantastic from top to bottom! Really dig the blue lighting.Very soothing. Cheer's from a fellow PDX'er!!

Welcome back, and thanks for sharing updates. i'm looking forward to lots more pictures....

Thanks much everyone! I hope to answer all current questions in line below - I have rarely been accused of being hasty so thanks for waitin' - I'm still rummaging through old pictures and notes and the nostalgia gets in the way of the work. I'm sure you all know how sidetracked you can get cleaning through old boxes, right?

I'm a big proponent of DIY Tiki, Bloody so I think it's great you are making your own. I'll be sharing some of mine over on the drinks board if they'll have 'em - I am looking through your thread, Hamo; Right On! :)

I'm glad you mentioned layering and lighting, Donovan - I have a specific aesthetic in mind and those are two important factors in realizing the vision of the space.

EnchantedTikiGoth - My wife and I grew up in SoCal and have been obsessed with Disneyland since about forever I think. My 'tiki' aesthetic is far more Disneyland and 30's pulp than straight post tiki-bob tiki. We love foliage and the feeling of being encroached in a comforting way of hanging vines and overgrowth, like the underside of a willow or a secret grotto.

One of the ways we do this, MaukaHale, has been with a loveseat papasan chair turned upside down. You can see in this shot and it is intertwined with foliage, secrets, tikis from a SoCal 70s backyard, lights, flowers, you know. I have some thatch on the top and when the budget allows, I do intend for is to be thatched on top with a foliage layer above. Here are some shots from the previous version of the 'Hut.

Now you sit underneath it on one of the couches.

And for nostalgia's sake, here is a shot of the first bar back in December 2008 - You'll notice the lightup tikis started out here. In 2008, We had only renovated one quarter of the basement for the 'Hut - which is why it was 'in Exile' - it was jammed into one corner of the basement and I already knew I wanted to develop the rest of the space.

Oh, and here is a pic of building the behind-the-bar area. I haven't taken many pics of it; I'm working on the LED lighting in that area. I'll post about that too here soon.

On 2019-02-07 12:03, Melintur wrote:
EnchantedTikiGoth - My wife and I grew up in SoCal and have been obsessed with Disneyland since about forever I think. My 'tiki' aesthetic is far more Disneyland and 30's pulp than straight post tiki-bob tiki. We love foliage and the feeling of being encroached in a comforting way of hanging vines and overgrowth, like the underside of a willow or a secret grotto.

Same! Disneyland was my introduction to Tiki, and my own preferred Tiki aesthetic is the more generalize Adventureland aesthetic of the Enchanted Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, and the Jungle Cruise, though I do have a pretty healthy love for 1930's Pri-Tiki. King Kong and Honolulu are two of my favourite movies :) One of the things I love most about the Adventureland aesthetic is the lush foliage and ultra-colourful flowers (especially if those flowers sing!).

Speaking of lush foliage, I love that wall of leaves behind the bamboo poles. It really creates the sense of a deep jungle.

Where did you get all of that greenery? I visited Wendy and Dan a couple of months ago and got to experience their Jungle Room. For years Dan bought vines and things with Michael's coupons, but yours looks more tropical.

I love your space! The depth of decoration and lighting is really fantastic.
It's great to see old pix for comparison as well. Hopefully someday my "after" pix will resemble your "before" pix. LOL

Thanks again!

Here are some current shots:

Sign carved by TC'er Tikitronic in 2004. I have installed lighting effects. The Monkey's names are Mortimer (the whistler) and Elias (the content). You may just catch them blinking out of the corner of your eye! The backlighting fades slowly through a mirrored rainbow centrally outwards.

I love taking shots of these critters in their natural habitat. This was the 'Ti's Puka Punch from Intoxica!

Awesome

Thanks, Hang 10!

Oh Hamo - we've been collecting imitation foliage for years, from friends who were moving and also from Goodwill, Michaels, and any other thrift store. I keep an eye out especially for birds of paradise, Anthuriums, hibiscus, orchids. It's funny that since we've also been collecting living plants and learning their names, we can refer to the fake ones as well - Hey, hand me those peperomia, would ya?

I hate paying the money they charge for new fake plants at those big box craft stores, so for the vines we actually created them from twine, floral wire, and broken/munched foliage. When I get more stock of random foliage I may post that trick. They are a bit tedious though quite worth it.

Monkey Hut looks great and I love the name.

On 2019-02-12 16:58, Melintur wrote:
I hate paying the money they charge for new fake plants at those big box craft stores, so for the vines we actually created them from twine, floral wire, and broken/munched foliage. When I get more stock of random foliage I may post that trick. They are a bit tedious though quite worth it.

A post about homemade vines would be great; I'm not sure if there's anything like that around here yet.

It took me a bit of time, but I do deliver! ;) Here is the Creeping Vegetation method I used to make the 'vines' in The Monkey Hut, as requested.

It's always Christmas in The Monkey Hut. An angle not often seen in bar coverage: "The Bartender's View." In The Monkey Hut, it's a specific consideration.

I have been working on electronic and lighting projects lately. I'd rather share them here [likely in another fora] if people are likewise interested.

[ Edited by Melintur on 2022-03-29 09:46:08 ]