Traveling through many Muslim countries and parts of India during her honeymoon, Doris Duke was fascinated by Islamic cultural traditions, art and architecture. A visit to the TajMahal inspired Duke to eventually commission plans for the house she built in Hawaii. Duke engaged the architectural firm of Wyeth and King to design her Hawaiian home, and architects Marion Sims Wyeth and H. Drewry Baker worked closely with Duke to design the home, with Duke providing sketches and photographs of buildings and architectural details she had seen during her travels. Throughout her life, Doris Duke enthusiastically designed and redesigned her home and gardens, and in 1965 made a codicil in her will directing her executors to organize a foundation to manage and maintain Shangri La for the study and understanding of Middle Eastern art and culture. The collection tells the story of Shangri La, the most intimate of Doris Duke'sresidences. While the collection spans the years 1932 to 2003, the materials primarily begin in 1936, withcorrespondence relating to early discussions of architects to design Shangri La in what was then the U.S. Territoryof Hawaii, and end in the mid to late 1990s with materials related to the handling of the Estate of Doris Duke afterher death in 1993. The materials primarily detail the design, construction, decoration, and furnishing of Shangri La and the routine business matters of its daily operation.
