Princeville began in the mid-1800s as a large cattle ranch on Kauai’s North Shore. The land was first known as the Hanalei Plantation, where sugarcane and taro were grown. In 1860, it became a ranch owned by Scottish settler Robert Crichton Wyllie, who served as a cabinet minister to King Kamehameha IV. Wyllie named the area “Princeville” in honor of a royal visit by the young Crown Prince Albert (Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha), son of the King and Queen Emma. The ranch covered thousands of acres overlooking Hanalei Bay and remained mostly agricultural for more than a century.
In the 1960s, the land that had been the Princeville Ranch was sold by the Wilcox family to a group of mainland investors and developers led by Eagle County Development Corporation (ECDC) of Colorado. Headed by businessman Doug Hoyt and engineer Donn “Curly” Carswell, ECDC purchased roughly 9,000 acres of the old ranch with a plan to create Kauai’s first large-scale resort and residential community. The developers hired the Honolulu planning firm Belt, Collins & Associates to prepare a comprehensive master plan. Their vision was to combine resort living, golf, and open space with the natural beauty of Kauai’s North Shore, setting aside large areas for parks, greenbelts, and a 27-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Between 1968 and 1971, ECDC began the work of turning open ranchland into a planned community. Roads, water lines, power, and sewer systems were installed to support the initial phase, which covered about 995 acres above Hanalei Bay. The first major roads—Ka Haku Road, Lei O Papa Road, and Hanalei Plantation Road—were laid out to form the backbone of the new community. The Princeville Hotel site, the Makai Golf Course, and the Princeville Shopping Center area were among the first projects completed. The developers also worked with the County of Kauai to secure zoning approvals and with the State Land Use Commission to classify the area for urban use.
In 1971, ECDC recorded the Princeville at Hanalei Declaration of Restrictions, Covenants, and Conditions, commonly known as the CC&Rs. These rules governed how homes could be designed, landscaped, and maintained, ensuring that Princeville would retain a consistent and attractive appearance. Construction of the first homes began soon after in the early 1970s, mainly around the golf course and near the Hanalei Bay Resort area. The Princeville Hotel opened later in 1985, marking the full arrival of Princeville as a destination community. The combination of careful planning, phased infrastructure, and design rules made Princeville one of Hawaii’s first true master-planned resort-residential developments.
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2 responses to “Building Princeville: From Ranch Land to Resort Community”
This history is fascinating, but it highlights a significant problem. Princeville was Hawaii’s first planned community, and the early rules and covenants were fairly weak in my view. The Makai golf course is protected by an agreement that expires soon.
[…] its early design in the 1970s to today’s neighborhoods, Princeville has been guided by a plan, and founding […]