The Hidden Oasis was conceived as an extension of my home garden and swimming pool, which was dubbed the Oasis by friends and visitors. Having been raised around Polynesian Pop Culture, it was only natural that the bar came together. It is more than a home bar or at least what most people would think a home bar is.
Over the years as my family traveled to places in the South Pacific, the Caribbean, Florida, California and New England, many things were acquired both as mementos and decor we lived with. Probably beginning with my father, who was stationed in Papua New Guinea during WW II, bringing back items we grew up with. My grandmother made trips to Hawaii as did my parents in the 60s also bringing back everything from fabric and carvings to pineapples. We would make family trips to Hawaii and Florida enjoying Polynesian themed hotels and restaurants including the Willows in Honolulu (now long gone) the Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Polynesian Resort and the Enchanted Tiki Room at Walt Disney World too. All were influences on our family. As an adult the travels continued and the collection grew to include many carvings, nautical items and furniture.
Mixology, as a hobby took shape a few years ago as I began to research Tiki cocktail recipes that would have been used in some of the vintage and contemporary ceramic mugs I had collected. This led to a rather large library of rum and spirits I refer to as a library rather than a collection because I use them. So it was time to bring all of these elements of my life together to enjoy and share with friends. The concept for my Hidden Oasis was born.
Today my 400 square foot space is a fully equipped bar that will seat 8 people on Witco bar stools. The bar itself is 10 feet long with a live edge bar top and mix of vintage and newly carved panels by Tiki Diablo that finish the front. The canopy over the bar is a thatch and bamboo A frame that soars 14 feet to the ceiling. The back bar shelves are filled with my collection of mugs and a porthole from a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride vehicle from Disney World. The porthole is animated with a looping video of a tropical island.
The walls of the bar are covered in repurposed decking used as wainscoting with Bac Bac matting all trimmed with bamboo. Art on the walls include vintage tapa cloth and carvings by Leroy Schmaltz, Bob Van Oosting, Bosko, and Tom Fowner. Other art on the walls includes a set of spears my father brought back from Papua New Guinea and large 20,000 Leagues Under Sea attraction poster from 1959 featuring a giant squid. Free standing carvings by Leroy Schmaltz, George Nakashima, Barney West and Laz InDatona round out the carved art.
With 14 foot ceilings there was plenty of room for lamps and lighting. I suspended four repurposed teak ship’s hold covers from the ceiling to attach lamps and glass fishnet floats that are illuminated. In addition to several lamps I made, there are several made at Oceanic Arts. Several of my favorites were made by my friend, Typhoon Tommy Allsmiller. One wall is dedicated to my rare rums, all displayed on lighted shelves with wire mesh inset into sliding doors. All of this is hidden behind a pair of mahogany French doors overlooking the Oasis.