Blockbuster director Richard Donner recently sold this oceanfront retreat in Maui. The property changed owners for $16.5 million, considerably under the initial asking price of $22 million set when the home went on the market a year ago.
A lovely contemporary beach house with 167 feet of frontage, the two-story Thomas Kligerman design measures 4,600 square feet, cozily accommodating only two bedrooms. Four bathrooms, screening room, solarium, and great room round out the interior. Abundant glass and vaulted ceilings with exposed beams give the house an open, airy feel, as one would expect in a Hawaiian escape. Room-to-room flow, space and airiness bridge exterior landscape and interior as glass walls open to verandas, lawns, and beach beyond.
The 2004 home, with its two bedrooms, is clearly intended to be a private getaway, but there is a guest house on the property as well, which is currently in use as a combination office and fitness studio.
The property is well-groomed and dotted with coconut palms. At one acre, it abuts Keawakapu Beach, on the south shore of the island. Almost entirely residential, the beach is quite quiet, and is known as a top spot for swimming and snorkeling; it is also notable as being without a natural reef, although a man-made reef of junk cars and concrete was constructed in the early sixties to combat beach erosion.
A craftsman director with a gift for making hugely popular films that are well-regarded, Donner’s list of credits includes ‘The Omen,’ ‘Superman’ one and two, the ‘Lethal Weapon’ franchise, and ‘Maverick,’ among other hits, in a remarkable streak of big box-office consistency. He also has an abiding interest in comic book creative development, and as of 2006 is part of the creative team on Action Comics, which has extended the Superman mythos into the 21st century.
