Kondo Family Residence

Kondo Family Residence

The Kondo Family Residence (近藤家住宅, Kondō-ke Jūtaku) is a farmstead built in 1907 and 1908 in Shimoshizu Shinden, Yotsukaido City, Chiba Prefecture, whose main house, storehouse and nagayamon gate were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on November 8, 2004 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Its story is tied to the army. The Agency explains that when the military training grounds nearby were enlarged late in the Meiji era, around the turn of the twentieth century, the Kondo household moved to the southern edge of this shinden, a settlement founded on newly cleared land, and built a new homestead from scratch.

Yotsukaido City describes the family as a branch of the Kondo line of Musashi, and the house as the home of a man who served as head of the former village of Kotehashi and as mayor of the former town of Chiyoda.

How the Homestead Is Laid Out

The plot fronts a road on its east side (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The main house stands a little west of centre, facing east; the nagayamon gate sits east of it, set back from the road, and the storehouse lies to the southeast of the main house. All three run north to south along their ridges.

• Kondo Family Residence Main House: 1908, single-storey timber, tiled roof, 159 square metres; registration number 12-0059
• Kondo Family Residence Storehouse: about 1907, two-storey earthen-walled storehouse, tiled roof, 25 square metres; registration number 12-0060
• Kondo Family Residence Nagayamon Gate: 1907, single-storey timber, tiled roof, 50 square metres; registration number 12-0061

From the road, the long, low line of the gate comes first, with the hipped roof of the main house behind it. The Agency registered the main house for its contribution to the historic landscape, and the storehouse and gate as models of design. Each building is described on its own page.

Visiting

The Kondo Family Residence is a private home, and the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education lists its owner as a private individual. No official information on public opening or visits was found. Yotsukaido City asks visitors to cultural sites not to enter private property without permission, so any look should be from the road.

The nearest station is Yotsukaido on the JR Sobu Line; the residence lies about 1.1 kilometres west of it in a straight line (a map estimate).

The Toyo High School Main Gate (Former Kondo Family Residence Nagayamon Gate) in Hasama, Funabashi, is a separate registered property at a different address.