The Shipman family leased 6,324 acres (2,559 ha) of land near the Kīlauea volcano in 1937 from the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, which they called the Ainahou Ranch.

Herbert C. Shipman built a house on the remote ranch in 1941 for the family as a refuge for the anticipated Japanese invasion of Hawaii.

[4] Herbert Shipman reintroduced two pairs to the Pohakuloa Training Area, and worked with British ornithologist Peter Scott to expand the breeding program to England, possibly saving the species from extinction.

[5] The Shipman family also kept many exotic plants at the ranch, including some of the first orchids raised on the island.

[8] and the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii on February 8, 1995, as site 94001619.