My work is the end result of a lifetime of dedication to the observation of the elements which surround us in nature. Starting with my youth I was able to experience first hand the joy of building ones own creation as we cared for our land and built our houses in balance and taking advantage of all of nature’s elements and eco-friendly technology.

After finishing a year of working as a forest ranger in southern oregon, I returned home to Hawaii and completed my B.S. in Environmental Studies at University of Hawaii Manoa. In my senior year I returned to building as an art form, while taking a semester break to help my uncle create a dramatic Japanese pole home which sits on a panoramic bluff over the Pacific ocean. After finishing University, I immediately went to Kauai to begin work on a similar, but much larger pole home with a guest house, floating bridges, and two story garage. As I was completing the project I kept a mental note of all the materials uses, their origins, and the certifications that were stamped on each unit of lumber that was used. I was surprised to find that a good deal of the valuable and rare old growth lumber I was using was coming from the very forests that I used to patrol and protect in southern Oregon. I was in essence destroying the very thing i had dedicated my life to valuing and protecting.

After the completion of the large pole home, I was inspired to create a new type of building. One that did not destroy valuable old growth trees, or promote waste of our valuable forests. On Oahu, a company that recycled and deconstructed old homes, made reclaimed wood available to buy that would otherwise go the the landfill. Working with and supporting this company, Re-use Hawaii, which could supply an unending source of ecologically conscious and affordable building media allowed the creations of the designs you see now. Beautiful houses and studios made out of the highest quality old growth and green materials, without any harm to the forests which provide us with countless, invaluable benefits.

I also use other elements in the building process, as the land and the house should have a seamless transition, to make a feeling of peace, and integration into the landscape. Building and design are functional art forms which are custom tailored to the client and their surroundings. Please contact me to see what you can create, and how your ideas can fit into a finished creation.

Create perfection in balance with nature.

Aloha,

Orion Stanbro