“Frank was wonderful,” Sabrina enthuses. “I just told him what I wanted, and he did the work whenever we left on vacation.” Over three summers and a couple of Christmas and spring breaks, Sabrina saw her vision realized.
The home has retained the relaxed, tropical charm of sweeter, simpler days gone by. Realtor Martin Lenny, also a neighbor, was pleased to see new life given to the beloved abode. When it had seemed destined for destruction, he had lamented not being able to purchase it himself. “It’s amazing what they’ve done,” he says. “We’re so happy that they decided not to tear down this wonderful house and preserve it instead.”
As she tells it, Sabrina fell in love with Maui on her first visit, six years ago. “I was riding my bicycle up Baldwin Avenue, loving the beauty of this island. I passed Montessori [School of Maui] and thought, ‘This is where I want to send my children to school.’ Then it started to sprinkle, and this may sound silly, but I felt I was being baptized. Baptized to Maui. In that moment, I just knew I had to be here.”
Two years later, Sabrina and Kevin purchased the Spreckelsville house, enrolled their three children in Montessori, and settled into “our beach cottage in Hawai‘i,” just as she had envisioned.
On their days off from school, the youngsters frolic with friends at the seashore or in their spacious backyard, swinging from the monkeypod tree Jane planted decades ago. As in the Thompsons’ time, the small, close-knit neighborhood remains family-friendly. Sabrina says, “Everyone knows everyone here; it’s a great place to raise kids. And this house, from the start, has been so inviting, so bright and cheery; it’s been a special home for our family.”
Indeed, it is a home not just built, but maintained, rescued by, and filled with love — several times over.
RESOURCE GUIDE
Aloha Remodeling & Construction, Inc.
Frank Zajac, general contractor
808-573-5229 | AlohaRemodeling.com
Bamboo Maui (flooring)
1878 Wili Pa Loop, Wailuku
808-244-2299 | BambooMaui.com
Cremer Construction (colored-concrete driveway)
440 Ainakula Road, Kula
808-878-6495 | Manta.com/c/mmjsj18/cremer-construction
Ferguson Plumbing Supply
335 Hukilike Street, Kahului
808-877-4460 | Ferguson.com
I Dig Maui (landscaping)
55 Lower Ulumalu Road, Ha‘ikū
808-357-1450
Maui Laminates (butcher-block countertop)
269 Papa Place, #5, Kahului
808-871-6500 | MauiLaminates.com
Performance Painting
71-A Miner Place, Makawao
808-870-4500
PerformancePaintingHi.com
