Words by Andrew Wagner; Photos by John Granen

You wouldn’t think owning a second home in Hawaii would present many problems, but Craig Steely had too much of a good thing: visitors. In 2004, Steely and his wife, Cathy Liu, built Lavaflow 2, fittingly named for its unique placement in a lava field an hour from the town of Hilo on the Big Island. Upon completing the house, the first thing the couple did, of course, was to invite friends from the mainland over for a visit. At 1,400 square feet, Lavaflow 2--and its outdoor covered room, known as a lanai--could adequately accommodate the Steelys and their guests...for a while. When one friend ventured over for an afternoon and ended up staying five days, Steely was motivated to start planning an addition. The scheme for the Ohanapod was born.

Ohana is the Hawaiian word for family, and pod means, yes, pod, which is appropriate for the 12x12-foot screened structure Steely eventually dreamed up. Since the family spends more than half of its time in San Francisco, where Steely runs his architecture office and the couple’s 7-year-old son, Zane, goes to school, it made the most sense to manufacture what they could there where Steely had more established building contacts. And, as Steely explains, “Hawaii is still remote. We’re about an hour away from the closest town.”

So a plan was hatched: design, fabricate, and ship the components for the structure in time for Christmas visitors. “The steel louver panels are heavy as hell, but we put it all together in about three and a half weeks,” Steely says. A large part of the plan hinged on “unskilled labor,” which was made up of the family’s holiday guests. “We figured we’d have them come over, and all the pieces to the Ohanapod would be waiting, and we could spend the visit piecing together their future sleeping quarters,” Steely says. “Maybe not what most people would consider a vacation, but I knew they’d be game.”

The Ohanapod is a remarkably simple structure that is constructed to withstand--as well as take advantage of--the intense elements Hawaii can throw at you. The galvanized steel panels keep the harsh salt air at bay, the louvers let in the light and air, and the screens keep out unwanted visitors like mosquitoes, mongooses, and coqui frogs.

The plan worked better than Steely could have imagined. “In those three and a half weeks, we pulled together a slick little shack--a place for our visitors to stay for however long they’d like,” he says.

There were, however, some casualties. “Sam, one of our guests and part of the construction team, blew out his back helping put together the Ohanapod,” Steely explains. “Hopefully that won’t leave a bad taste in his mouth next time he visits.” Even in paradise, it seems there’s always something.