“So, we are sitting on the market longer, but it’s just because we’re waiting on a traveler to come and discover it,” Stukin said. It is important to the owners that they have the “right buyer.”
— Paul Stukin, Deep Blue HI
Originally featured in Pacific Business News
Listed at $17 million, the Manele vacation estate of the late David Murdock — the billionaire owner of Castle & Cooke and Dole Food Co. who once held 98% of Lanai — is back on the market on the island’s southern coast. Murdock sold his interest in Lanai in 2012 to Larry Ellison for $300 million but retained this private retreat, which he commissioned in 2001 and held until his death in California on June 9, 2025, at age 102. The deed is recorded under Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii Inc., and Murdock remains the only person ever to have owned the home.
The 1.03-acre property sits above Kapihua Bay, with sightlines across Hulopoe Bay toward Sweetheart Rock and waters where dolphins appear regularly. Positioned off Manele Bay Road near the Four Seasons Resort Lanai, the residence spans 8,495 square feet, with seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Infrastructure has been updated over the years, but the architecture, interior design, and furnishings Murdock originally selected remain in place — keeping the estate much as he conceived it more than two decades ago.
Paul Stukin, founder and CEO of Deep Blue HI, took over the listing in September 2023 through a longstanding relationship with the Murdock family formed during his luxury real estate career in Los Angeles. The estate was taken off the market for updates and relisted on November 22, 2024. Stukin reports weekly showings and interest from buyers flying in from Southern California, Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Malaysia, with several offers received to date, all below the asking price. Against a national backdrop of softer high-end luxury sales, the approach is patience: holding for a buyer who recognizes the provenance, the setting, and the rarity of an estate built and held by a single original owner.