Former Koshi Family Residence Main House

A Silk Family's House on the Street

The Former Koshi Family Residence Main House (旧越家住宅主屋) is the shop and main house of a silk-reeling family of the mid-Meiji period in Suzaka City, Nagano Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on September 19, 2003 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a 2-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 280 square metres; registration number 20-0138.

A White-Plastered House Gable-On to the Street

The Former Koshi Family Residence Main House is the core of the property, set along a street that runs past on the east (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The building is long from east to west, faces south and is roofed in interlocking pantiles, with its east gable end turned to the street.

It reads as three parts. The 2-storey section at the east end and the single-storey center under a hip-and-gable roof are the oldest; the gabled section at the west end was added later (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Suzaka City describes it as a combined shop and house, with the 2-storey shop front and the single-storey living quarters joined into one building, and calls it storehouse-style construction.

The Agency dates the house to the mid-Meiji period and the west addition to late Meiji. Suzaka City estimates it was built in early Meiji, so the two accounts differ.

Why It Was Registered

It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape (Agency for Cultural Affairs), the Agency noting that the varied, white-plastered exterior recalls the years when Suzaka prospered on silk.

Inside, the reception rooms run as a suite of three rooms totalling 36 tatami mats, a measure of how well a silk family lived at the time (Suzaka City).

What to Look For

Start in the street and look at the east gable end head-on. Moving back from the 2-storey front to the hip-and-gable center and the gabled west wing, the roof changes shape, and that is what gives the exterior its variety (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Indoors, the 36-mat suite of reception rooms is the main event (Suzaka City). According to Go NAGANO, the prefecture's tourism site, this is where an American silk industry mission was received in 1919. The city's page also picks out the entrance lamp and the old Yamamaru-gumi mailbox.

Visiting

The interior of the main house is open free of charge, along with a view of the garden (Suzaka City). No official guidance on photography was found. Opening hours and directions are given on the Former Koshi Family Residence page.