Discover Kaua‘i's Rich History

Our beautiful island oasis is a rare gem, once lived on and loved by people who helped shape the Garden Isle’s future. Waimea Plantation Cottages were born from the remains of a once small, but prosperous sugar plantation, Waimea Sugar Mill Company, incorporated in 1884.

Hans Peter Faye, then manager of neighboring Kekaha Sugar Company, purchased the seaside lands in 1905, including the Waimea Dairy. He then acquired controlling interest in Waimea Sugar Mill Company. Faye continued with the acquisition of shares, until by 1910, he was the sole owner of the 60-acre sugar plantation and its mill on the edge of Waimea Town.

After a succession of management, Faye installed his son, Lindsay, as manager at Waimea to train for his eventual long and successful management of the much larger Kekaha Sugar Plantation. In 1929, Alan Faye took over the management of Waimea Sugar Mill Company. Under his stewardship, the plantation continued to prosper successfully until 1969 when the family-owned business decided to cease sugar operations, leasing its lands to Kekaha Sugar Company. The former Waimea Dairy had been leased to Meadow Gold in 1964. Under the stewardship of H. Peter Faye Jr., the business became a landholding company with its sugar lands operated by Kekaha Sugar Company. It continues as a family company today as Kikiaola Land Company, Limited.

The resort originated from the destruction left behind by Hurricane Iwa in 1982. In 1983, the first cottages were renovated as vacation rentals. Additional homes from other defunct Kaua’i sugar plantations were also moved to the site to enlarge the number of cottages available to guests today. Each cottage claims an intriguing story, and most bear the names of working sugar cane plantation residents.

“Kumumao”, the jewel of the collection of vintage homes, was restored and relocated at the entrance of the coconut grove. It was built in 1884 by Hans Peter Faye for his residence in Mana and named for the nearby spring that fed his early fields. Currently, the building serves as our Front Desk and reception area. In its original location in the Mana cane fields, “Kumumao” served as a film site in the television miniseries, “The Thornbirds”.

Today the resort welcomes vacation guests from far and wide, while still serving as a reminder of simpler times on Kaua’i when men with little but their own ingenuity were able to create not just a livelihood for themselves, but for thousands of other men and women from around the world.