Hamakua Property Sale Over $10 Million Sets New Record Price

Kupaianaha Ranch – listed by Hilo-based Broker-in-Charge Renee Hill and myself – was that rare property that truly qualifies as unique. Five parcels with a total of almost 800 acres – cattle ranching, waterfalls, ocean views, and a massive log home residence of 8,542 sq ft – in Hakalau, Hawaiʻi, just outside of Hilo.

The property sold in early October for $10,589,000 – establishing a new record price as the first residential property sale over $10,000,000 in the Hilo district or on the Hamakua Coast.

“Yellowstone” Meets “Lost” on the Hamakua Coast

I find it amusing how often I have seen references to the TV series “Yellowstone” and “Lost” crop up in articles about luxury properties listed and sold by Hawaiʻi Life.

For example, our colleague Josh Jermanʻs listing with CEO Matt Beall of Casa en Maui which had an actual connection with one of the shows as the former home of Yellowstone actress Barret Swatek and her husband Adam Weiss. It sold for $28.56 million, the highest residential sale in 2025 on Maui.

Matt and I also had the honor of co-listing the iconic Dillingham Ranch on the North Shore of Oʻahu – noted in press coverage for being a location where scenes from “Lost” were filmed. Dillingham Ranch sold in 2023 for $36.5 million to another client of Hawaiʻi Life, one of only three real estate sales in Hawaiʻi to top $30 million that year.

So it was unsurprising that the Robb Report article on the Hamakua Coast listing gushed: “If you were to imagine a crossover show that combines Yellowstone and Lost, it may as well take place on Kupaianaha Ranch.”

Honestly, that kind of summed it up. A log cabin home with massive logs miraculously transported from British Columbia and crafted on site so that virtually every room offered a view of an accessible waterfall.

The Power of Presence, Publicity – and Pricing

Hawaiʻi Life is a locally owned and operated brokerage. Listing these complex, unique properties successfully requires local Presence – broker and vendor connections, sensitivity to community concerns, intuitive and data-driven knowledge of the hyperlocal market. Publicity relies on our crack in-house team and PR firm to understand and reach appropriate buyer markets.

And then there is Pricing for unique properties with no real comparables. These extraordinary properties rarely sell quickly. We list in accordance with Sellerʻs hopes and directives, but the market does not always agree with the initial pricing. In the case of Kupaianaha Ranch, after we tested the market at the sellerʻs desired price, they were ready to “sell now.” They followed our original pricing advice and re-listed with us at a realistic asking price. We had multiple offers from qualified buyers with weeks, and sold to a buyer who already owned large acreage property in the area.

If you are looking for a brokerage to represent your kupaianaha – extraordinary, astonishing, unique Hawaiʻi property – letʻs have a conversation.