Remembering the Anderson Estate

The Anderson Estate in “Cloth of Gold” (Season 4)

Hawaii Five-0. Leonard Freeman Productions / CBS Television, 1972

I suppose we Five-0 fans will always feel a special closeness to the Anderson Estate, even though it was razed in April 2018. Critics of the destruction of the handsome Spanish Colonial Revival house abounded, both among fans of Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum PI and among the Historic Hawaii Foundation, which works to preserve historical structures in the Islands.

 

It is understandable that the house, which was built in 1933, was in a serious state of disrepair, but many people feel that its historical significance warranted its being restored. Designed by American architect Louis Davis, who designed both homes and public buildings in Hawaii, the estate once was owned by politician Eve Anderson. 

 

The Anderson Estate appeared in twelve episodes of Hawaii Five-0. We saw little of the interior of the house beyond the courtyard and entryway until the series finale, “Woe to Wo Fat,” when we were treated to scenes of one of the bedrooms. It was there that McGarrett was held captive by Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh). Forming a silhouette of a Doberman Pinscher with his hands and light from a lamp, he gave us a portent of what would come next: Zeus and Apollo about to take a bite out of Thomas Sullivan Magnum as he sneaked onto the estate after Jonathan Quayle Higgins banned him.

 

But I digress. McGarrett next formed a silhouette of a man hanging from a rope. As Wo Fat’s security team rushed in, the top cop tackled them and, with help from Dr. Elizabeth Fielding (Pat Crowley), one of three kidnapped scientists, won their freedom.

 

*        The 12 episodes in which the Anderson Estate appeared on Hawaii Five-0 are

-         "Forty Feet High and It Kills" (Season 2)

-         "Sweet Terror" (Season 2)

-         "The Second Shot" (Season 3)

-         "The Gunrunner" (Season 3)

-         "While You're at It, Bring in the Moon" (Season 4)

-         "Is This Any Way to Run a Paradise" (Season 4)

-         "Cloth of Gold" (Season 4)

-         "You Don't Have to Kill to Get Rich, But It Helps" (Season 5)

-         "Death's Name Is Sam" (Season 8)

-         "A Stranger in His Grave" (Season 10)

-         "The Case Against Philip Christie" (Season 11)

-         "Woe to Wo Fat" (Season 12)