The koa home, Mana Hale, was built by the ranch’s founder, John Palmer Parker, in about 1855 and was relocated to its current location in 1987. In Hawaii, it’s pretty common to see koa bowls ...

Koa (Acacia koa) is a legume tree native to Hawaii. It is found on all the big islands and grows from near sea-level to the tops of the mountains, although it prefers the moist sites between 3,000 ...

Koa wood from Hawaii is protected, and it has a history. King Kamehameha had canoes made from the beautifully grained wood in an era (the 18th century) when only royalty had access to it.

He points out a 3-foot vase made of lustrous koa wood that's priced at $9,000. Koa is expensive because it's increasingly rare, as most of the native forests have been cut down. Several projects ...