Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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These carved marble jalis (pierced screens) were inspired by Doris Duke's honeymoon visit to the Taj Mahal after she and James H.R. Cromwell (shown) wed in 1935. This pavilion serves as a prime example of Duke's unique aesthetic sensibility. “This photo was taken in 1939 by Martin Munkacsi for Life magazine, not long after the house was completed,” says executive director Pope. “The Jali Pavilion sits on the rooftop of Shangri La, and she actually commissioned the jalis while in India on her honeymoon. They were created by artisans in Agra. The first shipment broke in transit, so Duke had a new set fabricated. She took the broken set and asked a local architect to design a pavilion on the roof and incorporate the broken jalis into it. It was not part of the original design of the house.”

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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The entrance to Shangri-La is not what one expects from an heiress, but Doris Duke wasn’t into the expected. The simple design of the entryway was purposeful: It was done without any flourishes to adhere to Islam’s disdain for ostentatious displays of wealth. Next to the doorway stand smiling camel statues (purchased by the bargain-loving Duke from a Honolulu department store). “When you drive to Shangri La, you go down a long, tree-lined driveway that brings you to the entry courtyard,” explains executive director Pope. “There, you’re confronted by this entirely blank façade that is really punctuated only by the frieze of backlit windows and the front door. It gives absolutely nothing away.” The low-key exterior only heightens the drama of what visitors are about to see.

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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Inspired by the traditional Mughal gardens of India, Kashmir and Pakistan, Duke built her own garden in the late 1950s. Consisting of a narrow brick path with water running through the middle, Shangri La's Mughal Garden contains planters and niches for oil lamps at one end. Today, electric candles are lit after dark, and water cascades in front of them into the channel, which is dotted with lotus-shaped fountains. “When she was making this garden, she corresponded with the keeper of Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan,” says executive director Pope. “He provided the shape of the flower beds and the pattern in the brick pathways. Then she selected plants typically found in Mughal gardens, specifically ones in Cyprus. She planted different types of citrus." Unfortunately, many of the trees perished due to the estate's proximity to the ocean and its salty atmosphere.

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

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Although Duke collected antiques, she also loved modern touches: Shangri La's living room is most notable for its retractable glass wall, a technological marvel when it was installed in 1938. The room boasts views of the Playhouse and of the swimming pool. It's also home to some of Duke’s most significant ceramic collectibles, including Islamic Spanish tiles and a fireplace mantle she purchased from the collections of tycoon William Randolph Hearst. “Hearst had warehouses of things he'd collected in storage on the East Coast,” explains executive director Pope. “In the 1940s, when he had financial difficulties, he had sales at Gimbel’s and at private galleries. In 1940, Duke bought quite a lot of Spanish material, and these acquisitions prompted a minor renovation to the living room in order to accommodate them.” This view of the living room is taken from the adjacent Mihrab Room.

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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The Spanish fireplace dates back to the 13th century; the Spanish luster chargers mounted on the wall are from 15th and 16th centuries. There’s more than just Spanish influence in the room. Craftsmen were flown in from Morocco to create the intricate stucco ceiling. Executive director Pope continues, "On either side of the fireplace are metal stands called kursi. They're from 19th-century Egypt and are covered in calligraphy on the top, sides and bottom. And what looks like coat of arms above the mantle was a gift from the Turkish Ambassador to Doris’ father, James Buchanan Duke." They’re not real weapons, however—it’s a pastiche to look like an assembly of weapons. Pope assumes that Duke liked it because it was a Turkish piece and because of the association with her father.

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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Duke's dining room, which has stunning views of the ocean and of the Diamond Head volcanic cone, was originally done in a marine-life motif: Fish tanks were built into one wall, and seashells were displayed on another. In the 1960s, she decided that she wanted an Islam-inspired space more in step with the rest of Shangri La. After the overhaul, it featured mosaic tiles, a Baccarat chandelier and a fireplace, as well as Egyptian and Indian furnishings. The most prominent decorations in the room are 19th-century Egyptian appliques which are marked with calligraphic inscriptions. “The 10 panels contain passages from Qu'ran,” says executive director Pope. “However not all of the writing is from the Qu'ran. Some have sayings—for example, one says: ‘Opener of all doors, open the best door for us.’”

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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On the dining room lanai, or porch, sits a wrought-iron iron table with a glass top and six chairs. "I understand Duke often lunched there," says executive director Pope. "Today, the lanai is a midway point on our guided tours. People get a chance to linger and enjoy the views. It's one of visitors' favorite spots."

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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It’s hard to believe that Duke’s ornate Syrian Room was once a spot where people played pool, did paperwork or washed their hands. But indeed, this multi-level, exquisitely appointed version of a qa’a—the two-room reception area found in Syrian homes in the late Ottoman period—once housed a billiards room, an office and a bathroom. They were demolished in the late 1970s and early ’80s to create what was called the Syrian Room. Visitors enter it from the house’s central courtyard. A fountain—known as a masab—sits front and center, while overhead is an ’ajami ceiling, which is made from a plaster covered in metal leaf, glazes, paint and mirrors. This ceiling is the room's most splendid single element. “As early as the late 1930s, Doris Duke was interested in these painted interiors from Damascus,” explains executive director Pope. “She seems to have been in conversation with art dealers there about the possibility of acquiring an interior dating from the late 18th century. She finally acquired one in the late 1950s, which became Shangri La's Damascus Room. In the mid 1970s, she acquired the second one, which we’re looking at here.” Although some of the room’s elements were handmade for her in Hawaii, Duke decorated much of the Syrian Room with Ottoman items acquired from New York University’s Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies. Pillows, carved stonework, gilded doors, Syrian tiles and calligraphic cartouches inscribed with Arabic verses complete the stunning décor of this room.

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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This seating area is at the rear of the Syrian Room. The vitrines in this room and the adjacent space are filled with pieces from Duke's collections of 19th-century Persian and Bohemian glass, 17th-19th century Ottoman silk velvets and 16th-17th-century Iznik ceramics.

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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“This is the balcony off the one guest room in the main house—the guest room was reserved for people who were exceptionally close to Duke,” shares executive director Pope. “It has this lovely balcony with a trellis and star patterns, which was designed and fashioned in Morocco, but it's been replaced several times over the years because it's so exposed to sea air and water.”

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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Like the Jali Pavilion, the Mughal Suite and its bathroom were also inspired by Doris Duke's honeymoon trip to the Taj Mahal. “In this photo, you’re standing in Duke's dressing room and looking into the bathroom. The mirrored ceiling of the dressing room is above you, and in front of you, those carved wooden and ivory doors open onto the bath," explains executive director Pope. "What you’re looking at was commissioned by Duke in India in 1935, including the arch, the tub and the small fountain. You can also see glimmers of inlaid stone—they're pieces of jade, lapis and carnelian—in the walls and floor. The patterns were based on ones seen on 17th- and 18th-century buildings in India.”

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

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“This set of stairs leads from the games area, a big expanse of lawn, up to the rooftop Jali Pavilion,” says executive director Pope. “The arched doorway at the bottom of this stairway leads to the Mughal Suite, which was Duke's bedroom. The staircase was not part of the original design for Shangri La. It was something that the architect added when he and Duke were figuring out how to accommodate the Jali Pavilion.” At the time that this particular photo was taken, Pope adds, the pavilion had been temporarily dismantled so the roof could repaired.

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

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“In this photo, you’re looking east, standing in front of the Playhouse and looking back toward the main residence,” says executive director Pope. “Besides the swaying palm trees, what you’re looking at is the middle part of the house that is covered by a green tile roof. That is the living room. The while part that extends toward the ocean is the dining room.” At 75 feet long, the pool reaches a depth of 5 feet in the shallow end and 14 feet in the deep end. "Duke was an avid swimmer," Pope says. "She started at a young age, and she swam pretty much until the end of her life. She also surfed and sailed. If an activity had to do with water, she did it."

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

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Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

Tags:

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

Tags:

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

Tags:

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

Tags:

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

Tags:

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

Tags:

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

Tags:

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

Tags:

Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

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Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

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Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

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Heaven on Earth: Inside Doris Duke's Shangri La - Gallery

To provide the perfect setting for the Islamic art she adored, the heiress created a stunning showcase on the Hawaiian coast

Written by The Editors of DuJour

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