One-Quarter of This $15 Million Hawaii Mansion Is Outdoors

Ron Johnson and his wife, Susan, had been vacationing in Hawaii for years, first at the Four Seasons and then in a home they purchased in the Kona district of the Big Island. Four years ago, they purchased a series of plots in the Hualalai Resort, a gated community, club, and resort on the northwest side of the island with the aim of developing them and flipping them for a profit.

After a year or two of sitting on one property without developing it, the couple decided that they'd rather build a house there for themselves. "Something more grand that really captured the essence of Hawaii," said Johnson, who's the president and chief executive officer of Central Bancorp, a group of financial companies based in Colorado Springs. "Stone, fire, water—those are the interesting elements here in Hawaii, so we tried to emphasize those in the house."