Hawaiian Mission Houses

Ok, there are establishments I frequent and activities I indulge in that don’t involve the consumption of copious amonts of alcohol. My friends and I also enjoy partaking in experiences in which one need not comport themsleves like a complete neanderthal… really. I also like to think I have a well rounded, adventurous, intellectual, renaissance man side (like the Dos Equis guy).
My visit to the Hawaiian Mission Houses was just the type of avant garde, refined activities I occassionally enjoy. The museum hosts summer Shakespeare in the Park productions, which my friends discovered and we recently got together to watch a performance of «The Tempest».
Now, I’ve lived on Oahu about six years and have probably driven past this place a hundred times without ever realizing it was there. This is a small, (and I emphasize, as with anything else in Hawaii, small) area consisting of three restored 19^th century houses, (two of which are the oldest houses in Hawai’i), and are easily lost by the surrounding city scape. While I may not have gotten to enjoy the experience of entering the homes and viewing some artifacts the grounds were interesting and piqued enough of my curiosity to warrant a return.
The mission houses however do contain a very well maintained grassy outdoor stage fringed in lava rocks. There is also a small café with a modest selection on items. Given the performance was in the early evening, this may have not been the café’s peak period, hence the selection. The staff, which may have consisted of a mix of museum and production personnel were very friendly and accomodating.
The experience was good overall and I will undoubtedly return to explore get the full experience of a few things I missed.

school field trip review… my preschool children enjoyed the tour, dress up, printmaking, and games. it was hard for them to comprehend everything with the weather being all muggy this day but we can’t do anything about that (no electricity/​ac back in the day haha). volunteers were very knowledgeable and accommodating for this age group. will come back next year :)

Hawaiian Mission Houses
I know many people will say that it is a small small small tiny small museum. OK, that is fair but if it is a complaint, could you please instead do something bigger and better. Like many museums in HI, it is small, but that just means that it can be more informational when you do go there.
For a museum in the heart of a capital city you could do so much worse… In Chicago there is the Dusable and the Spertus museums’ and even those are teaming with kids on field trips during the week and heavily trafficked on the weekends.
Not here in HI, you can be by yourself and have a tour, I mean you can have a tour by yourself by just talking to one person one on one. It won’t happen all the time, but it is such a small museum and not on the radar or the tourists in general that you can still talk story with someone about the missionary era here in HI as long as you want.
There are some great events– they have some small plays on special event nights every now and then but not at all very often.
The gift shop is the nicest place I have ever seen as a gift shop. Not your typical ABC store, more of your ‘this is what gramma made for the family in HI’ kind of stuff. There is a small music section which is again small, and not a rack like in Walmart, more like this will fit the CDs.
Different museums are popping up in different areas– trying to help kids and adults learn more and more about the past. This is a good one.
Wonderful docents that can answer tons and tons of questions.
Beautiful grounds and some street parking that is usually open for a car or two.
A few moments of solitude in the center of the city… Priceless.

We went on a tour today and loved it learned about our history how they lived and ate and enjoy their lives. If you are ever are in Hawaii stop there and found out how they lived.

Can’t say that I’d be interested in doing any of the actual house tours, but it was nice to stop by the grounds and just look around and peek through the windows.

My goal on vacation is always to try and visit museums, even during a beachy getaway to Hawaii. The Mission House Museum made that possible! This is located near Iolani Palace, so you could see both in one day and get the cultural/​educational portion of your trip safely out of the way.
If you just want to stroll around the pretty, well-​maintained grounds and check out the buildings, it’s free, but a docent-​led tour is pretty inexpensive and is the only way to peek inside. We were the only people in our group, so we were able to ask as many questions about the parts that interested us as we wanted.
When we went, they were working on a remodel of one of the houses, so some of the exhibits were not on display. I liked getting to walk around the restored missionaries’ house and looking at the furniture and household items that were typical of the era. The printing press is also nifty for typography nerds.
The tour is about an hour long, and for $ 10, it seemed worthwhile. But if you’re pressed for time or don’t feel like paying that much, at least stop by and walk through the grounds. There’s also a nice gift shop with local art, notecards, jewelry, and gifts if you’re looking for souvenirs.

I really enjoyed this tour. I’ve lived on Oahu my entire life and although I am familiar with Hawaiian history I still learned a lot of interesting things! The tour was about an hour long and we went on the last one of the day at 3pm. I guess the lady was tired or something but she started without even introducing herself which was kind of weird. And whenever we had any questions she kind of just continued her story and didn’t really answer us. Just tell us you don’t know geez lol. But overall she did a good job, was very knowledgable, and a decent tour guide. It was very cool to walk through the house and imagine what it was like to live there back in the day. Lots of cool artifacts too.

Wonderful museum about a block from Iolani palace. Not your typical museum because the relics you observe are actually houses from The Old Hawaiian Kingdom, all circa 1800’s. These were the homes of the missionaries some 125 – 150 years ago. That’s the most unique thing about this museum, you tour 19^th century homes! All located in a one block area. Marcia, the tour guide, gives a wonderful walking tour and a mini-​history lesson of a time gone by. If near Iolani Palace or the Kamehameha Statue, I strongly recommend a visit here. Stop by the gift shop too…

Very informative little tour. You need to be able to climb stairs, not for the elderly/​walker/​wheelchair set since the houses are wonderfully ancient. I enjoyed learning about this wonderful little gem and visiting the gift shop.
I took a star off for not offering anything to compensate for our $ 25 gift certificate. We were supposed to receive 2 tours (check), $ 10 in the café AND a gift shop item worth over $ 20.
Why not offer something else since the café is now closed and the gift shop items that were ear marked for this deal were gone? Did they over sell the deals? GC was good until Jan 2013 — Disappointed.

It was like a trip back in time in old Hawaii before the overthrow. Being in this place felt so surreal, it’s pretty neat. The Mission Houses Museum offers vistors to its place of wonderment and history. This piece of history is in downtown Honolulu, kept away from the hustle and bustle of urban living. I was pleasantly surprised that this place was very well kept up. Admission/​Tours to this place is not cheap, but its good to experience it just once. General admission is $ 10, but kama’aina rate is $ 8.
Tours are conducted every hour, and last tour begins promptly at 3pm. You can walk around the grounds and it’s free. I paid my $ 8 and got a shot of knowledge on how it was back in the old days. There’s only street parking, but if you are like me, the public buses run nearby and you just walk to the museum grounds. This place is really educational and one of the places you’d probably say wow to.

It has been years since I’ve gone on a tour here, so I took advantage of the Kamaaina special which is the last Saturday of each month, Kamaaina’s get half off the the regular admission.
If you are driving, only street parking is available. But I had no problems finding parking, just remember to bring coins for the meter.
When I arrived, the lawn and patio area was occupied with patron for «tea time»… I wish I had planned my visit out better, I would have loved to invited my girlfriend and her daughters for this trip.
I’m always interested in learning about cultures and rich histories, especially of a place where I grew up and love. The tour is very educational and there is a lot of information to take in within an hour. It is a walking tour, which you’d walk around the property, but it’s not too bad. There is some stair climbing, and some opportunity to sit during the tour. Last tour is given at 3 pm, which I had just made it in time for.
Overall, it has been a great experience. If you are well-​loved by mosquitoes like me, cover up or protect yourself, but I only got 2 bites. I do recommend bringing kids on this tour. There is a bit of walking and stairs, so if you’re lazy or in need of physical assistance — this might not be a tour for you.

step back into time and head over to the mission house museum. i was pleasantly surprised to step into this idyllic and quiet property in the middle of downtown. i was recommended to come here from a friend to learn about hawaiian history through the missionaries perspective. i found it to be very educational and for me to learn, or rather unlearn the things i thought about missionaries.
as for the business, you pay admission to go on a guided tour which gives you access inside the buildings. my tour guide was very knowledgeable and was able to tell us a lot about Hawaiian history. what the museum has been able to preserve and share is amazing. they have the oldest house of all of the hawaiian islands on the property which was actually shipped from Boston.
there is also a gift shop that sells many hawaiian products and a café on site.
next door is the historical Kawaiaha’o Church which is also worth a look. plus down the street is iolani palace. so i made the trip of going to Mission House Museum, Kawaiaho’o Church and then Iolani Palace to learn more about missionaries, church, and the Royal Family.

To go inside the houses, you must go on a tour which only runs every hour or so. But you may walk around and peek through the windows for free, which is what we did.
I don’t know if I am interested enough to pay for a tour, but the gift shop is GREAT. They have really good oil paintings by local artists, high-​quality matted art prints, chocolates & honey; jewelry by local artists; and other really nice souvenirs. If I were visiting Hawaii I would stop here to get my gifts for people if they were artsy types.
I actually bought a cyanotype printing kit for the kids; it makes blue & white photo prints with the sun.

Things are happening at this place. Visited this week and got talking with a staff person on the lanai. I really enjoyed the Flag Quilt Exhibit that is closing Saturday. They have a number of FREE programs like their monthly lunchtime lecture series and the children’s story hour that is led by a retired children’s librarian. They also have activity packs for families that you can check out — all of these programs are FREE!!! Tours of the site happen three times a day and are very interesting — these cost but have depth of info. Great gift store and a good café. Grounds are even lovely. Staff was very friendly and welcoming to me…

The 4^th graders went on a field trip here last Friday. I was disappointed because we were rushed through the tour. We had about 10 — 15 min at each «station». In addition, there was one station where the students drew pictures on paper plates to resemble the olden day plates, but only had enough for about 6 students out of about 30 or so. They said they «ran out». That’s no excuse!!! It’s not like the the tour was free. The «educational director» wasn’t really friendly either.
Aside from that, I think it’s a great place for students to learn about how the olden days were spent here in Hawaii.

Standing exhibit of missionary’s houses, they also feature rotating artists in various houses. Worth the stop, but small and very hard to park. They offer different pay packages, you could just see one part of the museum, or wander the grounds, pleasant either way. Not a place to spend the whole day, but great for a tour of galleries.