Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 5, 1 May 2012 — Brilliant results for palace room restoration [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Brilliant results for palace room restoration

A found Gurtain tieback offers glimpse into Gold Room's warm palate

By Kathy Muneno To think that something as small and seemingly mundane as a faded curtain tieback held the secrets to a palaee room

where Hawai'i's royalty relaxed, sang and composed music. And yet it was just one pieee of a large and intricate puzzle that led to the first major period room restoration at 'Iolani Palaee in almost two

decades and now has won the prestigious Preservation Award from the Historic Hawai'i Foundation. The Gold Room, or Music Room, was in the second-floor private suite of King David Kalākaua. "Chances are the royal family did more informal kinds of music like playing strings in here," says 'Iolani Palaee curator Heather Diamond. "Lili'uokalani liked the autoharp; Kalākaua liked the 'ukulele." But there were no photos of the roomduring the monarchy era, only one black-and-white photo from the legislative era that showed the carpet and draperies. Diamond says a drapery tieback was found at a museum in Spokane, Washington, and "even though (tiebacks) fade on the outside, they were able to take

it apart and see the colors on the inside." The result is a rich palate of golds and browns that impart warmth to the space that captures the afternoon sun. The furniture is a mixture of authentic artifacts, period substitutes and reproductions. As with mueh of the restoration, Diamond says they had to rely on visitors' accounts. A newspaper account also proved worthy. "The Boston Heraīd wrote up this whole room when it was being installed because the furniture eame from the Davenport Co., whieh was in Boston, so it was a big deal to have all this furniture ordered for a palaee out in the Sandwich Islands." Among the actual artifacts that were restored are the stunning

tusk koa table, whieh was a jubilee gift to King Kalākaua for his 50th birthday, and Kamehameha III's throne, the first western throne in the Hawaiian Islands. Historic Hawai'i Foundation executive director Kiersten Faulkner says in deciding to bestow the award on the Gold Room: "The committee said that the quality of research and recreation of the significant features and characteristics is exemplary. It ean serve to inspire and motivate similar commitments to retain, restore and celebrate other places that are significant to Hawai'i's history and culture." The Gold Room is one of many recipients being honored by the Historic Hawai'i Foundation this year at its 37th annual Preservation Honor Awards on May 1 l.B Kathy Muneno is a weekenā weather anchor and reporter for KHON2.

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The newly restored Gold Room on the second-floor of 'lolani Palaee was onee a music room. The tusk koa table, fronting window on right, was a gift to King Kalākaua for his 50th birthday, in 1 886 - Photo: KathyMuneno