Baldwin Home

Prior to the fire, the Baldwin Home was the oldest house still standing on the island of Maui. It was a recognizable landmark in the heart of historic Lahaina. The original four-room, single level structure was built by Reverend Ephraim Spaulding between 1834-35 in what was then referred to as the “missionary compound.” This area offered a direct view to the Lahaina landing and roadstead beyond where whaling ships would anchor.

When Rev. Spaulding became ill in 1836 and returned to Massachusetts, a medical missionary, Reverend Dwight Baldwin, and his family who had been living in a grass hale (hut) in the compound moved into the home … and the legacy of a Maui pioneer began.

Newlyweds when they embarked, Baldwin and his wife Charlotte Fowler traveled by ship from New England around South America’s Cape Horn on a six-month voyage to the island of O‘ahu. They were assigned to Hawai‘i Island first, arriving on Maui in 1835. The couple had eight children, all born in Hawai‘i, although two children died of dysentery before the age of three.

As their family grew, so did the house. In 1840, a bedroom and medical study were added and in 1849, an entire second floor was completed, which is the structure you see today. The home faces prevailing winds from the ocean with larger windows in the front, consists of 24-inch thick walls (constructed of coral, sand and lava rock with rough-hewn timber framing) and high ceilings, keeping the interior cool.

Remnants of the kitchen’s foundation and firepit in the rear yard provide a snapshot of the extent to which the family used the outdoors for cooking, bathing, washing dishes and clothes, gardening and raising farm animals. Of course, there was no indoor plumbing back then. Landscaping in this compound included kukui and kou trees along with bananas, breadfruit, figs and a grape arbor. Surrounded by a freshwater stream and next to an artesian well, the home was self-sustaining.