Top 10% of guest reviews in this areaTop 10% of guest reviews in this area
5 bedrooms3 bathroomsSleeps 15
Popular amenities
Ocean view
Kitchen
Washing machine
Dryer
Free Wi-Fi
Outdoor space
Explore the area
Kamuela, HI
Pua Mau Place Arboretum
Place, Pua Mau Place Arboretum
8 min drive
Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area
Place, Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area
14 min drive
Mauna Kea Beach
Place, Mauna Kea Beach
17 min drive
Kailua-Kona, HI (KOA-Kona Intl.)
Airport, Kailua-Kona, HI (KOA-Kona Intl.)
45 min drive
Rooms & beds
5 bedrooms (sleeps 15)
Bedroom 1
1 Double Futon and 1 King Bed
Bedroom 2
1 Double Futon and 1 Queen Bed
Bedroom 3
1 Queen Bed
Bedroom 4
1 Queen Bed and 1 Crib
Bedroom 5
1 Queen Bed and 1 Double Futon
3 bathrooms
Bathroom 1
Bathtub or shower · Toilet
Bathroom 2
Bathtub or shower · Toilet
Bathroom 3
Bathtub or shower · Toilet
Spaces
Deck or patio
Kitchen
Garden
Dining area
About this property
Kepharts' Ocean-view Hale: A Home Away from Home
This five-bedroom/three-bath home sits on five acres of land in the Kohala Estates. We specifically designed and built the house as a family vacation gathering spot. Its high ceilings and 760 square feet of windows make it particularly light and airy. Tradewinds and 13 ceiling fans help to keep it cool. The kitchen and the master bedroom have 180-degree ocean views plus the sweep of the Kohala Mountains, Maunakea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and nearly the entire Kona-Kohala Coast.
From the lanai, guests can watch a sprinkling of fishing boats, tour boats, military vessels, and pleasure boats. Several times a day a tug towing a barge pulls in and out of nearby Kawaihae Harbor. With good luck and timing, guests can spot Hawaiian spinner dolphins, humpback whales, and the occasional green flash. We can't guarantee blue skies and no mosquitoes; but odds are better here than anywhere else in the central Pacific. The house sits in the rain shadow of the Kohala Mountains, and annual rainfall totals are typically in the single digits!
We have tried to make our house a 'home away from home' for our guests. It is attractive and comfortable without being so fancy that guests are afraid to relax. The library boasts plenty of books and movies.
Extras: Guests will find enough kitchenware and linens to choke a flea market! The kitchen is well stocked with small appliances, utensils, pots and pans, dishes, glassware, flatware, and spices. Kids will enjoy several cubic feet of Legos and building blocks as well as puzzles, games, books, and other toys. Binoculars, beach towels, coolers, beach chairs, boogie boards, sand toys, and beach umbrellas are left out for guests to enjoy.. Visitors will not need to bring much besides their clothes and personal items.
Many of our guests consider this 'their' second home; and accordingly, our most popular times can be booked over a year in advance. Fall and late spring usually have the best availability.
Guests will also enjoy a Blu-Ray player in every bedroom, a satellite TV with Hi-Def in the living room, and WiFi Internet access.
Location, Location, Location: Most of our guests appreciate not only the ocean and mountain views but the house's convenient location. It is in a semi-rural neighborhood, which has no street lights and a myriad of stars at night. Weather is usually warm and dry. Within easy driving distance to the Big Island's premiere beaches and golf courses, it is also conveniently located within driving range of Kailua-Kona and Hilo. Good restaurants and shopping opportunities are an easy drive away. Neighboring houses are quite a distance away, and the neighborhood is quiet and safe.
Each day offers lovely sunrises and sunsets as well as moonrises and moonsets. The star-scape on a clear night is breathtaking.
Home away from home: The house is very comfortable, clean, and well-maintained. Many of our guests say that they feel right at home as soon as they walk in the door. The living room walls are lined with books, videos, and art work. The 2400-square-foot house features a large central great room with bedrooms and bathrooms across the back and south side. This open floor plan allows for privacy as well as communal activities.
Most of our guests especially appreciate the wrap-around lanai, which includes 840 square feet facing the ocean. The lanai has five table-and-chair sets, two lounge chairs, two small tables, and a gas barbecue, which makes it perfect for communal meals or individual relaxing and reading.
The driveway is large enough for off-street parking for up to six vehicles.
The house is surrounded with irrigated foliage and flowers, which are especially colorful and beautiful in the spring and summer months.
People who are looking for a getaway or a place to get-together at a reasonable price will find that Hale Kephart fills the bill.
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Events allowed: family gatherings, birthday parties, weddings
Clear with owners. No sound systems allowed.
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Pets
No pets allowed
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Smoking
Smoking is not permitted
1. Guests will recycle cans, cardboard, plastic, and glass. They will conserve energy by turning off lights, fans, and appliances when not in use.
2. Guests will not make excessive noise, especially after 9:00 pm, out of respect for neighbors living close by.
3. Guests (unless they can't comply for medical reasons) will not wear shoes in the house.
Important information
You need to know
Property Registration Number GE-209-208-6258-01, TA-209-208-6285-01
Property # 209187
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
Parties and events (including family gatherings, birthday parties and weddings) are allowed on site. Maximum attendees: 30
Note from host: Clear with owners. No sound systems allowed.
Host has indicated that there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property
Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit and a deadlock
About the area
Kamuela
Located in Kohala Estates, a neighbourhood in Kamuela, this holiday home is in a rural area and by the sea. While the natural beauty of Mauna Kea Beach and Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area can be enjoyed by anyone, those looking for an activity can explore Mauna Lani Resort Golf Course.
Consider Anna Ranch Heritage Center for a night out or Pua Mau Place Botanic & Sculpture Garden if you're travelling with kids. Discover the area's water adventures with jet skiing and kayaking nearby, or enjoy the great outdoors with ecotours and mountain biking.
Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area - 14 min drive - 13.2 km
Mauna Kea Beach - 17 min drive - 13.2 km
Mauna Lani Resort Golf Course - 25 min drive - 25.7 km
Mauna Lani Beach - 29 min drive - 27.6 km
Getting around
Kamuela, HI (MUE-Waimea-Kohala) - 31 min drive
Restaurants
Mauna Kea Cafe & Market - 16 min drive
Manta & Pavilion Wine Bar - 16 min drive
Copper Bar - 17 min drive
Ikena Landing - 17 min drive
Hau Tree - 17 min drive
Frequently asked questions
Is Kepharts' Ocean-view Hale: A Home Away from Home pet-friendly?
No, pets are not allowed at this property.
How much does it cost to stay at Kepharts' Ocean-view Hale: A Home Away from Home?
As of 15 May 2026, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at Kepharts' Ocean-view Hale: A Home Away from Home on 28 July 2026 start from AU$990, including taxes and fees. This price is based on the lowest nightly price found in the last 24 hours for stays in the next 30 days. Prices are subject to change. Choose your dates for more accurate prices.
How much is parking at Kepharts' Ocean-view Hale: A Home Away from Home?
On-site parking is available at the property.
What time is check-in at Kepharts' Ocean-view Hale: A Home Away from Home?
Check-in begins at 4:00 PM.
What time is check-out at Kepharts' Ocean-view Hale: A Home Away from Home?
Checkout is at 10:00 AM.
Where is Kepharts' Ocean-view Hale: A Home Away from Home located?
This family-friendly Kamuela holiday home is located by the sea, within 1 mi (2 km) of Pua Mau Place Botanic & Sculpture Garden and Pua Mau Place Arboretum. Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company Visitor's Center is 2.4 mi (3.8 km) away.
Reviews
10
Exceptional
Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.
We had a wonderful stay! The house was perfect for our family. We rented the house for a month and our family all visited on and off for the month. The property had a huge lanai where everyone hung out. The whales showed themselves for a couple of weeks and then adjourned to Alaska. The location was on the dry side of the island so the weather was great. The hosts were wonderful and we were privileged to get to know them. They made a very informative guide to the island with lots of suggestions for tours and things to do. The preteen kids loved Hapuna Beach State Park with body surfing opportunities. The kitchen is well equipped and the washer/dryer was very useful! I'd strongly recommend this property.
Kathy S.
Stayed 30 nights in Mar 2026
Response from VrboOwner on 4 Apr 2026
Kathy and her family and friends were ideal guests. We very much enjoyed getting to know them. They are welcome back any time.
We loved our stay here! There was everything you could want for amenities and we created so many wonderful memories sitting out in the lanai watching the sunset! We big time appreciate the extras like beach chairs, boogie boards and beach towels to simply beach trips and add a layer of comfort. The hosts were very responsive and accommodating! We are hoping to return in the future
This was the absolute perfect house for our three generation family to stay. The house has everything you need for a perfect Hawaii vacation. The open airy house and porch were the perfect place to relax after busy days out and about.
Marion and Jesse L.
Stayed 8 nights in Jan 2025
Response from VrboOwner on 17 Jan 2025
Marion and Jesse were perfect guests. We hope to see them again soon.
We very much enjoyed meeting colin and his family. They were here during a windstorm and a 17-hour power outage.
They took both in stride and continued to enjoy their vacation here on the Big Isle. We enjoyed his can-do attitude and his sense of humor. We hope to see this group again in the near future.
We stayed at this house 20 years ago and were hoping that our memories were correct, Our kids wanted their spouses to experience what they had as teenagers. Everyone loved the house and
Ann T.
Stayed 4 nights in May 2025
Response from VrboOwner on 9 May 2025
Ann and her family were here for only four days. I hope they will come again and stay a while longer. They were lovely guests.
Highly recommend this property. We truly loved our trip to paradise!!
Bonnie B.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2022
Response from VrboOwner on 23 July 2022
Bonnie's family were wonderful guests. The washing machine "died" the day before they left, and they even took that in stride. We are installing a used machine until our brand-new oversized washer and dryer arrive from the mainland. We appreciate their positive attitudes and hope they will return soon.
Amazing view of the ocean for breakfast and dinner on the lanai. Spacious and well supplied kitchen and children's activities as promised. Don and Kerrill were very accessible and helpful.
We had a great time on the Big Island and the house was a great home base for our day trips. Don and Kerrill were by far the best hosts we've had for our vacation rentals. The property provided plenty of space for the whole family and the views from the Lanai were magnificent.
Sean K.
Stayed 8 nights in Jun 2021
Response from VrboOwner on 13 June 2021
It was a pleasure to host Sean and his family. It makes us happy to see extended families taking time out to enjoy what the Big Island has to offer while enjoying one another. Sean is welcome any time.
A group of us stayed here for work. It was the perfect setup with ample space for sleeping and the big beautiful deck. Ocean views every morning were incredible
Tamara M.
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2023
Response from VrboOwner on 12 Oct 2023
We are glad to provide a place where folks can work at home or relax after a busy day in a clean and beautiful environment. We hopeTamara and her group will stay with us again.
House was amazing and location was perfect. Overall we were thrilled with the property. I did send a couple texts to the owners and never received a response but not a big deal.
Davi M.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 17 June 2024
So glad Davi and family had such a good time and enjoyed the house.
We are sorry about the texts, but the phone number being used was our landline, which is why the texts never reached us. sorry about that.
Verified
10/10 Excellent
John E.
5 Apr 2018
Perfect family vacation home
Our extended family loved every minute of our stay in this large and comfortable home in one of Hawaii's most beautiful locations.
The ocean view from the huge lanai is unforgettable. We hope to return next year.
Kerril and Don had a beautiful home that was stocked with everything you could need for a vacation from towels to boardgames books to read on the beautiful balcony. We enjoyed our stay thoroughly very friendly and quick with responses would highly recommend.
We found this home great for our family gathering. We had travellers from age 8-40+ and all had space and enjoyed the home. Sunset dinners from the lanai can not be beat.
Amanda P.
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2022
Response from VrboOwner on 9 Aug 2022
Amanda and her group were very helpful guests. When they left, they had already run most of the linens through the laundry for us, which made the turnover go much more smoothly for us. We are glad they enjoyed our home and hope they will come back again for another stay.
Over all it was a great stay. Coffee and dinner on the lani was the best. Short drives to the beaches and shopping. Found hikes all around. I would definitely recommend this house for a family or group vacation.
This is my husband and my second time at your lovely vaca home,,, the first time we were guests of friends so this time we treated our family to a week at your home,,, everyone loved it!! The lanai is, of course, the highlight of your home, so beautiful, lovely view, so relaxing, a perfect setting for family meals,, I surely hope we can come again another time,,,, 🌴❤️⭐️
Kathleen E.
Stayed 7 nights in Sep 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 8 Oct 2024
We hope you can come again soon. Thanks for taking such good care of the property while you were there.
It was a perfect place to get together as a family of 12 for Christmas. Views were incredible. Lots of space. owners were so accommodating. It is a bit far out but that made 6 young adults hang out with us instead of in the shops. Easy access to everything
Susan H.
Stayed 10 nights in Dec 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 6 Jan 2025
Susan and her family were ideal guests. They took full advantage of what the Big Island has to offer and still had plenty of time to enjoy one another's company on the lanai.
Very nice property. Nice view. Lovely landscape Perfect for our family. We will return.
Robert M.
Stayed 5 nights in Nov 2022
Response from VrboOwner on 9 Nov 2022
As always, we are happy when our guests enjoy themselves and look forward to a return visit.
About the host
Hosted by Kerrill or Don
Don grew up in California, earned his B.S. and M.S. from Stanford University, and his PhD in biology from the University of Chicago. Kerrill moved to California from Michigan. She earned a B.A. from Eastern Michigan University and an M.A. in English literature from California State University in Long Beach. We both finished our teaching careers at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, where we were able to teach the subjects we loved to students who made us laugh and think every day we spent with them.
We built Hale Kephart in 1989 during nine weeks of our summer vacation with the help of family and friends. We enjoyed staying in the house during spring, winter, and summer breaks for 14 years. Then we retired and built our current residence on the same five acres as the vacation rental and thus began another chapter in our lives.
Hawaii is our home now, and we cannot imagine wanting to live anywhere else. We love the climate, the dark and quiet nights, the fresh air, the ever-changing views of ocean, mountains, and sky. We have embraced the aloha spirit and the whole concept of ohana.
We also love the people. We have made friends from many walks of life; each one of them has enriched our lives in some meaningful way. Some of them have been guests at our vacation rental who kept coming back until our relationship metamorphosed into a deep friendship. Others we met while writing articles for the local newspaper or playing tennis at Mauna Kea's Seaside Tennis Club. Most we met through other friends.
Our lives have developed a rhythm to them that is both interesting and comfortable. Every year we take at least one trip to the mainland to touch bases with friends and family. We have enjoyed sojourns in Alaska, Australia, New England, Washington D.C, New Zealand, Micronesia, the Pacific Northwest., the Galapagos, Europe, and the Pacific Southwest. We have seen spectacular places and had breathtaking experiences, but we are always glad to come home.
Why they chose this property
Our son taught high-school mathematics for a year in Kona. We came out during spring break to see him and to see the Big Island--the only major Hawaiian island we had not visited. We fell in love with the spaciousness and the diversity of the island and kept finding ourselves drawn to Hapuna Beach, which is six miles south of us.
A few years later we came back and stayed at Puako. We began looking for property. Kerrill kept coming back to a windswept, almost barren piece of land on a hillside in the Kohala Estates. Don finally said, "If you can find anything green on that lot, I'll consider buying it with you." We are not sure that we ever did find anything green--only sere buffle grass and dead kiawe trees. But we kept coming back because the view was better than anywhere else we had looked. And, finally, the land spoke to Don, too, and we put in an offer.
We've never regretted it. We enjoyed the vacation rental for 14 years and then built our retirement home behind it on the same lot.
When we are not traveling or maintaining the property, we enjoy reading and writing--we have a library of close to 14,000 books. Don does woodworking, builds model wooden ships, makes and shoots off rockets, hunts feral goats and pigs, makes knives, and enjoys photography. Kerrill enjoys tennis and gardening.
What makes this property unique
The unique benefits are self-explanatory to anyone who has visited our property. It enjoys an ideal location and an especially beautiful view. It is in a quiet neighborhood, one that so far has been so safe that most of our neighbors don't bother to lock their homes and cars. Besides, where else can you watch whales breaching against the backdrop of a full-sky sunset from your own front porch?
When we return to the mainland--as much as we enjoy seeing family and friends and taking in some of what it has to offer (theater, museums, specialty stores, national parks, restaurants, swap meets, etc.)--we soon become a little homesick. We especially appreciate the lower population density here. A traffic jam here would be considered a mild slowdown in most parts of Southern California.
When we are away we find ourselves missing the raucous calls of the gray francolins in the mornings, the trade winds blowing (sometimes gusting) through our palm trees and making their clattering fronds sound like falling rain, the panoramic and ever-changing vista that our eyes drink in as we look in any direction. We miss the fragrance of plumerias and gardenias, the bright and gaudy colors of the hibiscus and plumbagos and poincianas. We miss the fresh and soft air. We even miss the physical labor that it takes to keep up two houses and five acres of land.
We like to think that we have been here long enough now to consider ourselves kama'aina even though we weren't born here.
Languages:
English
Premier Host
They consistently provide great experiences for their guests