The plan to escape started innocently enough, one Friday night in late 1980, when they finally made it back to the sanctuary of their hillside home, behind their protective electric gates. It was about 10:00 p.m. and the end of another grueling, 14 our day, practicing law, when they settled on the floor in front of their giant, 8 foot television screen to eat dinner and to watch a movie.

While devouring a "Leon Salad" (take-out from La Scala Boutique) and a bottle of French wine, the topic of conversation was how good it felt to be back home and what a shame it was that the demands of the life they had created left so little time for them to enjoy the splendors of their magnificant home overlooking Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, and the simple delight of sitting on the floor and watching a movie.

The same could be said for their little-used cabin in the nearby San Bernadino Mountains or their ski condominium in Colorado. Their lifestyle was one of intensive, high pressure, 90 hour work weeks for 8 or 10 weeks at a time. Followed by a long weekend to depressure in cabo San Lucas, Mexico and 2 weeks in the South of France in the summer. Their personal overhead had escalated each year and with it the work load in order to support that overhead--the gardener, live-in housekeeper, pool service, 3 cars, 2 motorcycles, truck, insurance, mortgage payments, dog grooming and the ever expanding list of "things" that they owned or needed. In their "real world" even a luxury car for the housekeeper to go to the market seemed an absolute necessity.

During that fateful discussion, Barry made an off-hand remark that if they "cashed out", i.e,. sold everything that they owned and converted it to cash, there would probably be enough money for them to retire from the practice of law, so long as they were content to live a very simple life away from Beverly Hills.

As the saying goes, after that, Los Angeles was history. That chance remark had an appealing element in it for both of them that would not go away. Some simple calculations confirmed the feasibility of cashing out and the ideabecame firmly rooted in their minds. The next question was: "What will we do if we retire?" Gradually, a rough plan evolved. Look for Paradise, in the form of a white sandy beach on some remote, tropical island and build a small bar, hamburger stand and a few shacks on the beach for themselves and for the few good friends who would visit them. The plan became a bit more defined when Jennifer took Barry, while on a trip to Maui, Hawaii to visit her favorite bar, "High School Harry's". The name of the bar was actually "TheWindsock Lounge", but everybody called it High School Harry's (for reasons that have never been made too clear), referring to the character named Harry who ran the bar. In any event, it was located on the second floor of the very small "A" frame building that served as a passenger terminal at the Kaanapali, Maui airstrip. In those days, the Kaanapali airstrip was quite short and only small, propeller planes landed there. In order to get to the bar you had to go up a very narrow, winding staircase. There simply wasn't enough room in the building to build a proper stairway. And once you got to the top, there wasn't enough room to stand upright, except at the center of the building where the apex of the "A" was located. At one end there was a tiny bar, with only a couple of stools and there were about a dozen tables scattered around. Everywhere you looked, business cards had been stapled to the sides of the sloping roof by previous customers. Harry provided the stapler. This was Jennifer's favorite bar! Now, if you are thinking that you might like to visit High School Harry's, I should warn you that progress and time have taken their toll. The old airstrip has been replaced with a long, sealed runway to accommodate the jets that now land there, the quaint little wooden building, and High School Harry's Bar have been torn down and High School Harry died a number of years back - at a too early age. But, after that visit, Barry and Jennifer's dream of Paradise took on a little more definition and it included Jennifer's own little 3-stool bar, just like High School Harry's, where she could tend bar, in some far away tropical Paradise.

Finally, in February of 1984, they left Beverly Hills, having sold (or given away) virtually everything they owned and told all of their friends that they were setting out to find Paradise and to build Jennifer's 3 stool bar. The expectation had been that they would find Paradise somewhere in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, after a year of searching, they realized that a combination of too much development and a spreading wave of racial tension between the local residents of these islands, and the outsiders who wanted to settle in, made the region a far cry from Paradise. Indonesia and many parts of South- east Asia, although quite beautiful and exotic, seemed to lack a certain something, which they later understood to be the unique charm and hospitality of the Polynesian people.

They next turned their attention to the South Pacific. With so many islands and countries to explore, they decided to "get organized". A data base was set up on a Macintosh Computer to define Paradise in terms of some 50 different criteria, covering everything from the physical size of an island (too small and you get "rock fever") to the stability of the government, and including such items as safety from crime, absence of serious disease (such as malaria), status of infrastructure, availability of food staples (fruits, vegetables, spices) for the restaurant and a myriad of other items. Each of the different criteria were weighted in accordance with the importance which the Rose's placed upon them. A literature survey was made which filled in some of the blanks. Then letters of inquiry were sent to private and governmental agencies of every island-nation, such as Chamber of Commerce, Hotel Owners Association, Economic Development Department, etc., and more blanks were filled in. Then, starting in early 1986, a visit was made to all of the countries in the South Pacific that were malaria-free on the main island, and contained an island of some significant size, like Australia, New Caledonia, Tonga, The Cook Islands, Tahiti, American Samoa, Western Samoa, Vanuatu and Fiji. First hand observations were then entered into the database.

As you may have guessed, the computer acknowledged what the Rose's had already known - Western Samoa was Paradise. Having found Paradise, the remaining problem was to obtain land, on a white sand beach to carry out the rest of the dream. The initial meetings with the Matai of Maninoa, to lease the land where Coconuts now stands, were held in 1986. Since obtaining the land seemed to be uncertain, the Roses continued to look for a "runner-up" Paradise, following up on every lead that came their way. In 1987, while stopping off in Honolulu, Barry & Jennifer had a chance to have dinner at The Bistro Restaurant, owned by a friend of theirs, Michael Pirics. Michael had been the owner of a French restaurant in Honolulu called "The Bistro" for many years, and was an established and popular restauranteur in the community. The Bistro and Michael were so well known, that they had both achieved the status of "an institution" in Honolulu. On this particular occasion Michael was working behind the bar listening intently while the Roses described their search for Paradise, their discovery of Western Samoa and their plans to open a restaurant and 3 stool bar. At the conclusion of their story he stopped his work and said very simply: "Let me know when you are ready and I will join you. You really need me, since neither one of you know anything at all about the bar and restaurant business." Looking very much at home in his starched shirt, tie and three piece suit, behind the elaborate bar in his million dollar restaurant, Jennifer and Barry had a few good laughs at the idea of Michael leaving all of this behind to join them in Maninoa, Western Samoa, where they didn't even have electricity.

Because the lease negotiations were going very slowly and showed signs of never materializing, the Roses moved to Australia in 1987 to establish a small resort on the Queensland Coast, to be known as "Pirate's Cove Resorts". Negotiations for the lease of the Maninoa property were ongoing. In early 1989, the Pirate's Cove project was optioned to another hotel developer and, coincidentally, they received word that the lease in Western Samoa would be ready for signature. So, the Roses left Australia en route to Western Samoa in 1989. Stopping off in Los Angeles, they met with Robert Ross, a personal friend of the Rose's for many years, and a well known architectural designer in Los Angeles, to discuss the forthcoming project. Robert had done a great deal of work for Barry & Jennifer in the past, as well as for Hollywood film stars and many famous people in the film industry. Robert immediately contributed many valuable ideas to the project and ultimately traveled to Western Samoa on several occasions to become the guiding force behind the overall design of Coconuts. Upon learning that the signing of the lease was imminent, Michael Pirics, true to his word, sold everything he owned in Honolulu, divorced his wife and immediately joined the Roses in Samoa, never having previously been there himself.

The lease for the Maninoa village land was eventually signed in November of 1989, and clearing of the land commenced in early January of 1990. Construction of the infrastructure, restaurant fale, kitchen and public bathrooms was sufficiently completed to permit opening of the restaurant and bar in November of 1990. On Opening Day, Jennifer (who had taken the Samoan name of "Sieni" during meetings with the Chiefs and Orators of Maninoa Village some years earlier) was there, mixing drinks behind her "3-Stool-Bar". Of course, as can be readily seen, the bar has grown a bit from the original concept, and it now accommodates18 patrons. However, to be true to all of their friends who knew of her plans for a 3 stool bar in Paradise, only 3 "stools" were permanently placed in the sand in front of the bar, and the remaining places were constructed as moveable bar chairs. Michael Pirics (who had taken the name Mika during a Kava ceremony with the Matai of the Village) had been Jennifer's mentor in opening the bar, and was on hand to cook for the first customers of Coconuts. Once again, there was a deviation from the original plan to serve a few hamburgers, and Mika was turning out some of the finest French and Island cuisine in the South Pacific. The bar and restaurant were an immediate hit and the original fale was first expanded to include the "Palm Terrace" and later the "Sand Pit".

Construction of the first Hotel Rooms, "Fale Masina" (House of the Moon) was commenced in March of 1991 and was scheduled to be opened Friday, December 13, 1991. Unfortunately, Cyclone Val struck on December 6th 1991 forcing the opening to be delayed. Although Coconuts did not suffer any structural damage, the Government supplied electric power was lost, not to be regained until some 6 months later, and the Coconuts back-up generators suffered severe damage. Without any power, work came to an abrupt halt. Ultimately, the first 4 rooms were readied and the hotel had it's unofficial opening, hosting guests from the United States, in February of 1992. The remaining 4 rooms were opened in April of 1992.

Now a labor of love, as much as a commercial enterprise, the grounds of the hotel continue to be improved, additional buildings constructed, and the existing hotel rooms further refined. Coconut's Gift Shop is expected to open in December of 1992.

And . . . . . . they lived happily ever after!

October 19, 1993 Maninoa Village, Siumu District

Well, it is now one year later, almost to the day, and so much has happened that the story needs updating. So here is Chapter II.:

The Gift Shop did, in fact, open for Christmas of 1992 with Sieni behind the counter, hand painting "T" shirts whenever she wasn't busy with customers. Since there weren't too many customers then, it meant that she had lots of time to paint. She soon was joined by Julia, who had been a waitress in the Bar and Restaurant and a regular dancer in the Fiafia. It wasn't long before Julia became an expert painter and the object of Mika's lust and affection. In a short time (February of 1993) Mika, once again recited marriage vows (with Julia) and they went off for a brief but very happy honeymoon. The honeymoon was so good that upon their return they promptly got married again. To this day, they are very much in love and you can usually find Julia in the Gift Shop during the day and dancing in the fiafia on Saturday nights.

In November of 1992, the Asia Pacific Editor for Conde Nast Traveler Magazine was in Samoa to write a story about the forthcoming Robert Louis Stevenson Centenial, and wound up spending a great deal of time at Coconuts. In February of 1993 he called to say that he had written a story about Coconuts which had been accepted for publication. Photographers from Los Angeles came to Coconuts in April for one week of shooting and the story ultimately appeared in the August, 1993 issue/cover story, called "Living the Dream".

Meanwhile, on May 8, 1993 (Sieni & Afa's Wedding Anniversary) ground was broken for the start of seven, new accommodations called the Coco Village Fales, another Robert Ross design. These rooms were finished in September, just in time for the surge in interest in Coconuts, following the publication in August of "Living the Dream".

While Robert Ross was at Coconuts designing the Coco Village Fales, he also found time to draw a plan to transform the old "sand pit", (a small covered area, with a sand floor, adjacent to the bar), into a new dining room. At the present time, work is underway on the dining room and completion is anticipated in about 30 days.

It is now some 3 years since Sieni's 3-STOOL-BAR first opened and the labor of love continues ........... READ CHAPTER 3