The Great Good Gulch – North Kohala Real Estate's Secret Value

Ocean views are protected by this 29-acre Kapaau, Kohala parcel’s stunning gulch (MLS# 241049)

I have a listing near Kapa’au in North Kohala that’s on the cover of February’s edition of Home and Land for the Big Island of Hawai’i. It’s a parcel of over 29 acres located walking distance from nearby oceanfront public access. Not just raw land, it comes with a sweet guest cottage for the lucky buyer to enjoy while building their dream home. All for only $1,099,000.

One of the most spectacular features of this property is that the sellers cleared a building site right on the lip of the Ohanaula Gulch, which runs through the western side of the acreage. For most buyers, the main value in the gulch is the fact that it will absolutely guaranty your view plane, no CC&Rs, or building review committee required. But the gulches of Kohala provide a lot more than just view plane protection and privacy.

Many of the prospective buyers drawn to raw land in North Kohala are interested in doing some kind of farming or gardening, or even sustainable agriculture. When I show them properties with gulches they sometimes ask, “how much of this acreage is usable?” and I reply, “all of it.”

It takes a re-education for those of us used to equating farmland with big flat fields, but gulches were so significant in the life of the Hawai’ians before Europeans arrived, that the gulches were named and those names are still in use today. Because they are protected from the winds and have deep soil and naturally running streams, Kohala’s gulches were (and are) prized for their agricultural productivity.

Most became overgrown during the plantation era as sugar cane was cultivated and cattle ranched on the flat areas, but some beautifully recovered examples are accessible to prospective buyers who want to research the possibilities their property’s gulch has to offer.

For example, the landmark Peter Palm Nursery is entirely within a gulch:

Back to my Homes and Land ad…

At Hawaii Life, we rarely do print advertising on real estate for sale, as National Association of Realtors statistics show that only 4% of buyers say they found the home they eventually purchased through some form of print ad.

On the other hand, we have a top-notch creative department at our disposal to make sure we market properties properly. I enlisted their support to showcase a few more of my favorite listings on the facing page. In looking at it today, I realize that of the four properties I chose to feature, three of them have gulches!

Here are shots from just a few of the other gulch-blessed properties I have listed for sale in North Kohala:

Bottom of the gulch from (MLS# 230836); bananas from (MLS# 233243); seasonal stream at (MLS# 240250)