Home Sweet Home

Ehsan and Michaela Esfahani love everything about their newly renovated Kaua‘i house. The couple says picking a single favorite feature is hard, but they’re “particularly obsessed” with clever shelves in the play area that display mementos from their travels, as well as the “perfect” kitchen by architecture and design firm Hsu McCullough.

“Our daughter is turning two soon and just starting to get into ‘helping’ us in the kitchen,” the Esfahanis tell Ku‘u Home in a joint email. “We love setting up a stool for her at the island so she can help stir things.”

The residence aligns the Esfahanis’ warm ‘ohana spirit with the Hsu McCullough team’s love for home design. The Esfahanis “[leaned] into the ‘cabin-in-the-woods vibes’” of the house’s original A-frame and remote location for a cozy, sustainable family sanctuary. 

“Our house is set at the base of a mountain and surrounded by trees, so it has a real ‘private cabin’ feeling to it while still being close to town,” the Esfahanis say. “We also love all things midcentury modern and were hoping to bring some of that in as well.”

“A few layout iterations” refined by Hsu McCullough over time helped right-size each room in scale and placement. Raising two young children, the couple opted for a smaller master bedroom with an adjacent nursery. The open living area is flexible for family gatherings, and a “last-minute change” for an extended roof over the lānai provides a shaded respite where the family can “listen to the rain and enjoy the view.”

“To us, design with purpose means ensuring things are functional for your lifestyle as well as beautiful,” the Esfahanis say. They advise other homeowners to “make sure the layout works for you” when embarking on your own major renovation.

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The Architectural Lens

Peggy Hsu and Chris McCullough were introduced to the Esfahanis through a trusted friend. Hsu serves as Principal-Creative Planning and Entitlement of their namesake firm and is a licensed architect; McCullough is the firm’s Principal-Artistic Director with a background in architectural design. The couple has designed homes in California and Hawai‘i and were “truly excited” to work on the Eshafani residence.

“Kaua‘i offers a tonic for the madness and chaos of Los Angeles, where our architecture studio is based,” note Hsu and McCullough in a joint email. “[Kaua‘i] is incredibly inspiring due to its geographic location, relaxed density and proximity to [a] fully grown and thriving landscape palette of immense variety.”

They describe the Eshafani project as an “extensive alteration with a modest addition.” While the overall footprint of the home and property remained the same, the renovation reconfigured the upper floor and refinished it with new materials, colors and sheens. The project also eliminated the deteriorating balcony, exterior stairway and second entry door that led to the balcony.

“The lower floor was lightly adjusted within, while we added a carport with improved lighting,” Hsu and McCullough say. “We love an ‘upside-down’ house where the shared family living spaces are on the upper floor, one story above the garden level.”

An open layout connects the kitchen, living, dining and play areas to adjacent lānai on the upper floor. The lānai overlooks views of the property’s lush landscaping, which includes 29 varieties of trees like ‘ulu (breadfruit), liliko‘i, lychee and guava. Ambient sounds from nearby Akulikuli Stream add to the relaxing atmosphere.

“We blend personal meaning and significance [for] our clients with a positive impact on a property and community,” Hsu and McCullough note. “Our client sets forth a brief and budget, then [we] work to create something that accomplishes this with beauty and with impactful comfort. Our client makes it a home.”

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This story appears in the September/October 2026 print issue of Ku‘u Home magazine.