Uronza (Former Nagaoka Family Residence Main House)

A Carpenter's Kyoto Townhouse of 1897

The Uronza (Former Nagaoka Family Residence Main House) (胡乱座（旧長岡家住宅主屋）) is a modern Kyoto townhouse built by a carpenter for himself of 1897 in Yohojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 7, 2008 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a two-storey timber townhouse with a tiled roof and a building area of 69 square metres; registration number 26-0279.

Lattice and Mushiko Windows at the Front

Uronza, the former main house of the Nagaoka family, is a townhouse of 1897 facing west onto Samegai-dori (Agency for Cultural Affairs). A two-storey gabled house three bays by six, entered from the long side, it has an earth-floored passage along the south and three rooms of four and a half, six and six mats in a row on the north, with sukiya touches round the alcove.

The front has a projecting lattice on the ground floor and mushiko slatted windows above the passage (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to Kyoto City, it was built as the home of the Nagaoka family, carpenters from Fukui. The Agency calls it a good example of a modern Kyoto townhouse.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it as a model of design.

What to Look For

Look for the ground-floor lattice, the mushiko windows and the sukiya touches round the alcove (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The owner is not listed in the Agency record. According to Kyoto City, it is used as a guesthouse for travellers from Japan and abroad, 5 minutes on foot from the Shijo-Horikawa city bus stop; no official information on visits was found.