House in Tai II

The site on which this house was built was inherited from the site where the wife's grandparents had lived, and the main house and barn remained. Renovation was considered, but the barn was badly damaged and the main house was too cramped, so it was decided to tear it down and build a new house. The house is a home for a family of three and their cat.
The client wanted a place to live with a lush garden and to carry on the memories of the old house. The site is large enough to accommodate a one-story building, and the floor plan was designed with consideration for the thermal environment.

The main room, where the family gathers, is a three-room corner space with a large opening and a ceiling height of 3.2 m, allowing light from the south to enter comfortably. From the viewpoint of thermal environment, the eaves are 1 m high to prevent sunlight from entering the room in summer, while in winter, sunlight penetrates to the back of the main room. The Japanese-style room, which leads from the entrance, has a sliding door that can be opened to become a part of the entrance hall or a tea room for the tea ceremony, which the wife has enjoyed since childhood. The ceiling, floor posts, floorboards, and some framing materials were reused in this Japanese-style room to carry on the memories from the old house. When entertaining guests for tea, another approach was provided so that they could enter the Japanese-style room directly through the stone pavement on the east side of the house, instead of through the front door.

In the garden, the mandarin oranges, persimmon trees, yuzu and other trees that originally existed in the area were left in place, and the planting arrangement and selection of trees were done to create a continuity with the mountain in the back of the house. The roof shape of the building and the height of the trees were planned and adjusted to match the ridge line of the mountain behind. The combination of the spacious space, the Japanese-style room for entertaining guests, and the garden has resulted in a house that offers a peaceful and comfortable living environment.