Sawai Family Residence (Kyotanabe)

A Steward's House of 1740

The Sawai Family Residence (Kyotanabe) (澤井家住宅（京都府綴喜郡田辺町）) is the refined house of a family said to have managed estates of the Donge-in imperial temple, with a formal entrance and step of 1740–1741 in Osumi, Kyotanabe City, Kyoto Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on June 23, 1975 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a house 20.2 by 12.6 metres with a thatched hip-and-gable roof and tiled pent roofs on all four sides; designation number 01964.

The House of an Estate Steward

The Sawai Family Residence in Osumi, Kyotanabe City, Kyoto, was rebuilt in 1740–1741 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Sawai family is said to have served as stewards of estates belonging to Donge-in, a temple headed by an imperial princess, and building records date the work to those two years.

Across the front stand an earth-floored entrance, a formal entrance and a shikidai step, with reception rooms behind, a form unlike ordinary farmhouses and refined in design. A thatched hip-and-gable roof is ringed on all four sides by pent roofs of round, flat and pan tiles (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency values the house for its form, unlike ordinary farmhouses, and its refined design.

What to Look For

At the Sawai house, look for the row of entrances and the shikidai step at the front and the thatched roof ringed with tiled pent roofs (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The owner is not listed in the Agency record. It appears to be a private house, and no official information on public access was found.