Washington Place

Washington Place is a historic Greek Revival–style building in the Capitol Historic District of Honolulu. The estate was built in the 1840s by the American sea captain John Dominis, who had received the land as compensation in a legal dispute. After his death, his widow, Mary Jones Dominis, took over the house and rented out rooms, including to the American commissioner Anthony Ten Eyck. He named the building after George Washington, a name that King Kamehameha III officially confirmed. Architecturally, the house stands out for its construction of coral stone on the ground floor and wood on the upper floor, surrounded by a two-story veranda system with Tuscan columns. The interior follows a traditional Georgian floor plan with four parlors on the ground floor and four bedrooms upstairs.

Washington Place is of particular historical significance as the place where Hawaii's last queen, Liliʻuokalani, was arrested during the overthrow of 1893. She was held there by new government troops and U.S. Marines and was later placed under house arrest in this house for several months. The queen lived there until her death in 1917. After the Territory of Hawaii acquired the property in 1921, the building served as the governor's official residence. In that role, it housed twelve territorial and state governors until it was converted into a historic house museum in 2002.

Today, Washington Place is a National Historic Landmark and an important site for remembering the history of the Kingdom of Hawaii. You can tour the restored rooms, which offer a glimpse into the lives of the Dominis family and the queen. The building stands on the same grounds as the new governor's residence, which was built behind it in 2008 and now serves the official function of the executive branch. The museum gives residents and visitors alike a strong sense of connection to the cultural identity of the islands and to the memory of Liliʻuokalani.