We are holding a special exhibition on the Kaji villa (built in 1928),
Hayama, Kanagawa, in conjunction with the villa’s first public opening.
The Kaji villa was designed as a total work of art by Arata Endo, one of the
most important Japanese pupils of Frank Lloyd Wright and is Endo’s most
important extant works. The building is in remarkably good condition with
its beautiful interior featuring furniture, light fittings, fireplaces all
designed by the architect. Until now the holiday villa was closed to the
public. However, this autumn, the house will be opened for the exhibition as
one of the actions to preserve the villa as a living legacy for the future.
We hope you will take this opportunity to visit this landmark of Hayama.
Opening days: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays during October and November, 2014, from 10am-4pm
Location: Kaji Villa (Hayama-cho, Miura-gun, Kanagawa)
Check the complete event leaflet (japanese) at this link
Congratulations with this great initiative!
For more Iconic Houses, check out http://www.iconichouses.org!
Hi Ms.Drabbe
This is Juan Ordonez, architect at Community Housing Ltd.
Thanks for checking out the information about the opening of the Kaji Villa. The house will be open till November so if you happen to be in Japan around this time please check the house! The Kaji Villa open house is one of the events organized by the Heritage Houses Trust, a non profit organization that aims to preserve architecturally significant houses in Japan. This includes the arrangement of exhibitions, open house events, introduction to potential owners and other related activities. You can check the website at http://hhtrust.jp
Sharing the aims of Heritage Houses Trust, Community Housing Ltd. helps with the organization of such events. To finalize, I could see that the first Maekawa Kunio house is listed in the Iconic houses map. We also manage the New Maekawa Kunio House which he designed in 1973-74, the house is not open at the moment as it is still been used (and well kept by us). You can check it at http://www.chousing.info/Galleria/Showa/New%20Maekawa%20House/index.html
Best Regards
Juan Ordonez
Hello Juan, can you send me a mail at info@iconichouses.org? I have some questions about the houses that you represent. Thanks! Natascha Drabbe
My wife and I rented the Kaji Villa for two months in 1972 for the yen equivalent of $5500 a month. I was working for a US government agency, USN Task Force 157. It was much too big for us and difficult to heat. It did have central A/C because it was essentially a summer home that faced Sagami Bay. We moved out after only two months because it was too big for our family of three. We lived in Japan for a total of ten years and I learned to speak fluent Japanese. We were able to get out of the lease and moved into another western style with one Japanese tatami room nearby closer to Sagami bay.
Thanks for your comment. I will pass it to the staff of Heritage Houses Trust. The house is still in use its preservation has been achieved. It is still an important landmark and one of the few remaining old houses in the area.
Juan Ordonez