Former Hunter Residence

A Victorian House of a Kobe Industrialist

The Former Hunter Residence (旧ハンター住宅(旧所在 兵庫県神戸市生田区北野町)) is a Western-style residence of 1907 in Aotanicho, Nada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on June 11, 1966 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a two-storey timber house, partly three-storeyed, with a slate roof, covering 269.8 square metres; designation number 01631.

The House of Edward Hunter

The Former Hunter Residence was set up in 1907 by the Englishman Edward Hunter as his own Western-style house; it was not newly built but moved from a building erected in 1890 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It was given to Hyogo Prefecture in 1963 and moved to its present site.

According to the Agency, Hunter was an entrepreneur who lived in Kobe, and the shipyard he founded was a forerunner of Hitachi Zosen.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency values it as a faithful expression of the English Victorian style and an especially fine Western-style house of the Meiji era. It was designated an Important Cultural Property on June 11, 1966.

What to Look For

Look for its English Victorian appearance (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

Kobe City says the house, inside Oji Zoo, had been open to the public since 1964 but closed after December 28, 2025, to prepare for seismic work. It is to be fully dismantled, and the city is considering rebuilding it in Kitano.