The Kampong

This glorious nine-acre botanical garden was once the home of botanist Dr. David Fairchild, who went on to found the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. As chief of the Seed Section of the US Department of Agriculture in the early 20th century, Fairchild traveled the world collecting plant specimens and bringing them back here. One of only five tropical plant research sites in the country, it's a lovely property, with an Indonesian-inspired house set by a lagoon. Botanists and horticulturalists use the Kampong, now part of the Hawaii-based National Tropical Botanical Garden, to conduct research.