Just minutes from Downtown Honolulu lies a high valley where cool breezes from the Ko‘olau Mountains flow down into the city. Lush and often shrouded in rain, Nu‘uanu has long been considered a place of deep cultural and spiritual significance. This valley was the site of the infamous “Kaleleaka‘anae,” the final, decisive battle in Kamehameha’s quest to overtake O‘ahu. But beyond its historical significance, it is also home to a very famous haunted house.
In 1848, a man named John G. Lewis purchased a parcel of land from the Hawaiian Government. He built a house on the property, but he sold it to John Young II only two years later. Young named the place “Hānaiakamalama” after the ancestral god of his mother, the high chiefess Mary Kuamo‘o Ka‘oana‘eha, niece of Kamehameha I. Young’s father was the famous Englishman John Young, who was befriended by King Kamehameha and became one of his trusted advisors. John Young II was also the uncle of Emma Rooke, who became Queen upon marrying Alexander Liholiho, King Kamehameha IV.
Hānaiakamalama came into Queen Emma’s possession after Young willed the property to her upon his death in 1857. The Queen and her family enjoyed the home until her son, Prince Albert Edward, died in 1862 and then her husband, King Kamehameha IV, in 1863. Queen Emma then used the house as a summer home until her death in 1885.
In 1890, having been vacant for the past five years, the property was put up for auction by Alexander J. Cartwright, the executor of the Queen’s estate. Cartwright stated that the home needed extensive and costly repairs. The Hawaiian government subsequently bought the house and land.
In 1902, a local newspaper, The Hawaiian Star, published an article about an old house in Nu‘uanu Valley.
The story said that the house “would, in all probability, if situated on the [M]ainland, come under the jurisdiction of the Society for Psychical Research, so numerous, so authenticated, and so inexplicable, are the tales of weird happenings that have occurred almost continually, as far back as the memory of the oldest inhabitant can carry.”
The newspaper described this house as a true halelapu, or “ghost hall.” The sound of unseen footsteps echoed through its halls every evening and throughout the night. Visitors to the mansion have both seen and felt the presence of these ghostly beings.
The home had been vacant for some years and was described as an empty house with dusty windows like dead eyes, untrimmed gardens, and yawning shutters, describing the perfect visual suggestion of a “haunted house.”
Many of the haunting encounters were reported by people who were not known for silly stories of uncanny encounters.
William T. Seward, also known as “Major Seward,” once slept in the house. He awoke in the middle of the night and saw a Hawaiian woman with a regal stature. A female attendant wearing a veil was with her. The major attempted to stand, but he felt like some kind of cloth was thrown over his head from behind, and he was dragged back. He made another attempt to get up, and the Hawaiian woman thrust him back, grasping his thigh. A third attempt at rising resulted in the disappearance of the ghostly figures.
The next day, Seward went swimming, and on his thigh was a black stain. He said it wasn’t a bruise, and it wasn’t painful, but it would not wash off. The major showed the mark to a friend who asked him where he’d slept overnight. His friend then informed him that it was a “spook mark” and brought bad luck. Two months later, Major Seward was arraigned for treason.
One young lady of a well-known family was sleeping in the room of the big hall. She awoke in the middle of the night to see, by moonlight, the disembodied head of a young Hawaiian boy lying beside hers.
Another visitor left alone in the house went to bed peacefully in one room but later woke to find himself in another room, wrapped tightly in his blanket.
A group of women on vacation and the children in their care heard trunks and chairs being dragged across the large hall but saw nothing moving before them.
The son of one of the former occupants was seated at the billiard table, cutting out some papers. He felt his mother walk by, her skirt brushing against him as she passed. The boy saw her exit the room from the corner of his eye. He called her back to show her his project, and after his third call, his mother appeared from an entirely different part of the house.
One guest slept overnight in a small room with a screen. In the middle of the perfectly calm night, he was startled awake by the heavy screen falling with a smash and then watched as something unseen dragged it across the floor. He explained that there wasn’t the slightest breath of wind stirring at the time.
Reportedly, neighbors knew to stay away from the property. No mangoes were ever stolen from its yard. People gathered to investigate the house and its terrors, but no one ever stayed long. Parents sometimes forbade their children from playing there and even went as far as fetching them away from the house before nightfall. No one who remained in the house for very long was ever disappointed. Something always happened.
The house’s most famous inhabitants were often seen in later years as spectral entities, quietly walking through the old hall or one of the neighboring rooms. In one room, if a light were left on at night, visitors would see the ghost of His Royal Highness, King Kamehameha IV. The image of Prince Albert, his son who passed away at the age of five, is seen playing about. And, of course, often seen wandering about her home was Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke, Queen of Hawai‘i.
All of these stories were collected before 1902. The house remained vacant for several more years until plans to sell the property in 1906 were met with strong opposition, and turning it into a public park was suggested. In 1911, the Governor of Hawai‘i set the land and house aside to be used as a park to be maintained by the city. However, in 1914, due to the inability of the city to maintain the house, rumors began floating around that the house was to be torn down. Thankfully, the Daughters of Hawai‘i stepped in, and in 1915, the maintenance of the house was given to the group.
Today, Queen Emma Summer Palace serves as a museum, historic landmark, and cultural site preserved by the Daughters of Hawai‘i.
Have you seen any ghosts there?
