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When the news broke last week that Spalding House was going to close by the end of the year and its home in the gracious estate in Makiki Heights put up for sale, people rushed up the hill to visit the art museum like they were going to see a friend who is leaving town or a favorite restaurant that is serving its last chicken katsu. Read more

On Friday afternoon, all the marked stalls were taken and people were parking wherever they could along the tall hedge. A security guard was happy to let people know it was OK to park on the grass.

“We’re busy ever since the story came out,” he said.

When the news broke last week that Spalding House was going to close by the end of the year and its home in the gracious estate in Makiki Heights put up for sale, people rushed up the hill to visit the art museum like they were going to see a friend who is leaving town or a favorite restaurant that is serving its last chicken katsu.

Maybe those on the inside have known for some time that the museum of contemporary art was facing financial troubles and that the board had been talking about having to sell the property for a while, but for those who just love the experience of visiting a jewel of island- style elegance, it was a shock to hear the news that the end is coming.

There have been changes over the years, like going from independent entity to becoming part of the Honolulu Museum of Art, and renaming from the Contemporary Museum to Spalding House, but the experience of visiting the museum has remained reliably lovely.

Spalding House is a rare respite, a quiet refuge above the heat and congestion of Honolulu. The lawn slopes at just the perfect angle for sitting with your legs stretched out in front of you under the wide shade of a tree, and for little kids to run down with their arms cartwheeling and slippers flying.

Inside the Hart Wood- designed home, the galleries have hosted thought- provoking, sometimes haunting art. It isn’t where you go to just see pretty pictures. The grounds are peaceful but the rotating collection is stimulating. Visitors were always sure to see something they had never seen before, something they probably could not have even imagined.

That’s such a gift on an island — to have a place that serves as a window to the world and a portal into the creative.

The Cades Pavilion on the property is home to a David Hockney exhibit that has thrilled, frightened and inspired children for years, a true immersive experience that tells the story of a naughty little boy whose deeds called forth all sorts of enchantments.

The grounds of the museum are like a public park that isn’t public, so it is well maintained and unspoiled by bad behavior. Winding paths and stone steps take you down and around to secret little alcoves where rocks stand like guardians and sculptures hide among the leaves.

All this for just $10 kamaaina admission. Kids under 18 are free.

It would be a wonderful thing if one of the very wealthy people who lives quietly among us swooped in to save the place and kept it as is, a museum for all. Maybe that kind of magic happens only in Hallmark movies, but Spalding House does feel a bit magical.