Clear view

A glass house offers the perfect hideaway in Wahiawa

The old saying, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," has a unique definition for Bradley Hynds. To that advice he'd add, "Don't let large trees grow overhead."

An oversize tree limb once crashed through the sky roof of Hynds' Wahiawa home, a structure constructed primarily of glass.

Since then the trees have been trimmed, and a beautiful view of the gulch and lush foliage remains. In fact, glass walls and ceilings provide a view in all but two small rooms in the front of the house, a bathroom and bedroom. "I tell everyone that I have a 30,000-acre back yard," Hynds says.

Why glass? "So many houses are dark and dingy," he said. "I wanted a real open house. And I wanted skylights to look out. I could see the eclipse from my bedroom and can always view the moon and stars."

When the house was built in 1986, Hynds called it "21st-century camping - camping with all of the modern conveniences."

Hynds began with the purchase of several glass sliding doors from Hilton Hawaiian Village during one of the hotel's renovations, for about $20 each. After removing the aluminum frames, he hired a glazier to cut the quarter-inch-thick glass and install the pieces. "I got my money back from the removed metal pieces," he said.

Aside from glass walls and ceilings, the most unique aspect of the home is that it is 50 percent cantilevered, Frank Lloyd Wright style, which means half of the house extends past the foundation. Beyond the kitchen, the living room and balcony hang over the ravine.

"It's like building a swimming pool with no bottom. We added lots of concrete (120 yards), about seven cement trucks full," Hynds explained. "Fourteen-foot bolts needed to be placed in the ground. It was like anchoring a boat. The bolts were about four feet under the garage area in the front."

The result is a home so sturdy that even with all that glass, Hynds doesn't worry about hurricanes. The glass might blow out of a window, but the structure will hold, he said. "It's built like a bridge."

His carpenter - "the brains of the building" - was the late Jerry Stewart.

To check out Stewart's work, he invited 70 party guests to stand on the unsupported balcony. "It moved slightly but not much," he said. "The more weight you put on, the more it tightens up."

Over the years, Hynds has sought even more ways to make his house unique - and never anything so simple as a fresh coat of paint. He commissioned North Shore artist Ron Artis to paint a mural on the wall facing the street, one of the few areas constructed mostly of wood. The wall is now covered with details of leafy foliage.

"I wanted to make my house disappear," he said. "I'm kind of weird, you know."

That front wall and the fact that the home is quite secluded maintains Hynds' privacy.

Within these lush surroundings, Hynds considers his house a gem. "I work in the termite business and go into lots of homes. There are only a couple I'd like to live in, besides this one."