Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bill Clinton House
Here's an extraordinary story. Muli-millionaire Japanese businessman Takeharu Shiraishi, founder of
the Kanucha Resort and many other enterprises, loves America, democracy and US Presidents, espe-
cially Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt and Clinton. He's visited the US over 50 imes. So he built an exact
replica of Bill Clinton's Hope, Arkansas, boyhood home at Kanucha Bay. He found furniture from an-
ique shops in Arkansas and Texas, including a Singer sewing machine and a 1947 Frigidaire refriger-
ator. ”Just turning down Clinton Avenue made me cry,“ says guest Beckie Moore, execuive director
of the real house in Hope, opened to the public in 1997. ”It's such a generous gesture that's probably
never been done before and probably never will be again—the house of a US president built in an-
other country.“ Regardless of your poliics, and whether or not you like Bill Clinton, it is a generous
gesture and one that deserves respect. You can visit the house when you come to the Kanucha Resort
& Villas.
The resort is an expansive complex, sprawling over the hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean
on Oura Bay. It's so large that the property runs an internal set of shuttle buses taking guests
to and from its many restaurants, gorgeous sheltered beach, several large swimming pools
and tremendous 18-hole golf course, which boasts stunning views over the sea and surround-
ing mountains. There are over 300 rooms and villas in 19 different styles, in a half dozen dif-
ferent buildings and settings. Figuring out the daily rates by type of room or style of building,
by differing meal plans and by varying seasonal rates takes a finance degree from a university.
But don't worry, everything is at least $400-500 a night and upwards. So, in the supposed
words of J.P. Morgan, “If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.”
Here's a last bit, because otherwise readers will think I'm working for the place on com-
mission—and I'm not. In addition to the main hotel and all types of villas, there's a full-scale
model of Bill Clinton's boyhood home in Hope, Arkansas. It was built in his honor for the
G-8 Summit. So if you haven't yet made it to Hope for the tour, there's hope—you can do it
here. And it's free, probably the only thing that is free on this resort.
