The property is located on Maui island in the Kula district on the drier side of Haleakala. In days before western contact the area was heavily forested with native plants and trees and rainfall was abundant. The native Hawaiian grew bananas, taro and sweet potato . After Western contact businessmen mostly from the United States developed huge tracts of land for ranching and farming which cleared the native forests and destroyed the eco system from the mountain to the sea. Many of the Hawaiian people moved away nearer to the towns and immigrant Chinese laborers from the ranches and plantations moved in. The Chinese brought in the Wattle tree to plant for firewood as these trees grew very fast. These are the majority of the trees that you see today. As part of the Chinese immigration, the founder of modern China, Sun Yat Sen lived here for a time and planned his revolution to overthrow the last Chinese Dynasty. There is a park dedicated to him nearby.