What Is the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House?
The Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House (加藤家住宅（茂原牡丹園）主屋, Katō-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a thatched farmhouse of the late Edo period (1751 to 1829) in Yamazaki, Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 July 2003. It is a single-storey timber building under a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof of Kayabuki thatch, with a building area of 118 square meters.
It measures seven and a half bays along the ridge by three and a half bays deep, and it is entered from the long side, the arrangement Japanese builders call Hirairi. The house faces south. From almost anywhere in the peony garden, its roof fills the back of the view.
Three Accounts of Its Age
The sources do not agree on when the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House was built. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database says late Edo and gives a span of 1751 to 1829. The Chiba Prefectural Board of Education reports that, going by the family's memorial tablets and death register, it is said to date from the Kyoho era (1716 to 1735). The peony garden itself gives about 1730.
Kyoho is normally counted as mid-Edo, so the family tradition would make the house at least a decade and a half older than the national database allows. This article follows the database and records the Kyoho date as family tradition. Unlike the gatehouse, whose year is fixed by a ridge tablet, no written record naming a construction date for the main house appears in the sources checked.
An Earth Floor and Four Rooms
Inside, the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House puts the Doma earth-floored work area at the west end and the best rooms, the kamite, at the east. The raised living area is close to a Yomadori plan: four rooms laid out in a two-by-two grid. The prefectural board describes it as a good example of the traditional farmhouse layout of the Kazusa region.
A veranda runs along the south and east sides. The south veranda looks onto the flower beds in the forecourt, while the east one wraps around the kamite rooms. The way the house rises in status from west to east is visible from outside, simply from where the verandas are.
Why It Was Registered, and What to Look For
The Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House was registered as number 12-0049 for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singled out its well-proportioned thatched roof against the hillside as a surviving piece of the satoyama countryside of Kazusa.
The roof is also the thing to look at. A hipped thatch roof slopes down on all four sides, so from the south front it reads as a trapezoid with a short ridge. Walk back to the southern edge of the forecourt and the ridge line lines up against the trees on the hill behind. The peony beds spread across the front of the house, so this is the spot for a photograph with both flowers and thatch in the frame.
Behind the house, a storage cave dug into the hillside survives. It was probably used to keep food, and you pass it on the garden path.
Visiting the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House
The Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House can only be seen during the garden's spring opening of about three weeks. During that time the house serves as a tea room, and you can sit on the veranda over soft-serve ice cream or anmitsu while looking out at the garden. It is also the only time you can step under the eaves of the thatch and look out from the veranda.
Because the rear of the garden is reached by steps, wheelchair users can get around roughly half of it, the part around the main house. The house fronts a level forecourt, so it can be seen from the front without climbing. No rules on photography indoors are posted; if other guests are using the tea room, be considerate.
Q&A
- When was the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House built?
- The national database dates it to the late Edo period, 1751 to 1829. Family tradition places it in the Kyoho era (1716 to 1735), and the garden gives about 1730.
- When did the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on 1 July 2003, recognized for how its thatched roof against the hills preserves the look of the Kazusa countryside.
- Can I go inside the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House?
- During the spring opening the house is used as a tea room, so you can rest on the veranda or in the tea space. It is closed the rest of the year.
- What is the floor plan of the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House?
- An earth-floored area at the west end, the principal rooms at the east, and a raised section of four rooms in a two-by-two grid, with verandas on the south and east.
- How big is the Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House?
- It is a single-storey timber house of seven and a half by three and a half bays, with a building area of 118 square meters.
Basic Information
| Name | Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House (加藤家住宅（茂原牡丹園）主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 210 Yamazaki, Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), No. 12-0049 |
| Year Designated | Registered 1 July 2003 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, thatched roof, building area 118 square meters |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Open only during the spring opening of the Mobara Peony Garden |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003387
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/116467
- Kato Family Residence (Mobara Peony Garden) Main House and Gate (Chiba Prefectural Board of Education, in Japanese)
- https://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kyouiku/bunkazai/bunkazai/q111-052.html
- Peonies in the Garden of a Thatched Farmhouse: Mobara Peony Garden (Chibagoto, in Japanese)
- https://chibagoto.jp/matome.php?id=5134
Last verified: 2026.09.29
