Brick Palace

[2][3] The king commissioned the structure to be built at Keawa'iki point in Lahaina, Maui.

[4] Two foreign, ex-convicts from Australia's Botany Bay penal colony built the home.

[6][7] The house was intended for Kamehameha's favorite and most powerful wife, Kaahumanu,[8] but she refused to live in the structure and resided instead in a traditional Hawaiian-styled home only feet away.

From these foreigners, Kamehameha commissioned Mr. Mela (Miller) and Mr. Keka 'ele'ele (Black Jack), two escaped convicts from the penal colony of Australia, known as Botany Bay.

The foundations are dry masonry stone resting on a level sand lens.

The bricks were laid in a pattern known as "British bond", likely because the two people enlisted to build the structure originated from England.

The main issue was the traditional mound the structure was built on, which was designed for a typical Hawaiian hut.

Two types were found: a lavender-colored mortar made of sand and coral (reduced by burning for its lime) was found through most of the remains with the exception of the east corner, where there was a brown mortar which was a softer mixture of mud sand and coral pieces.

[16] There were four courses of brick at the highest point of the remaining walls that were uncovered during excavations, all laid with their axes at right angles in the "British bond" brick-laying pattern.

A reconstructed outline of the palace structure is permanently displayed, set into a concrete base.