Former Oana Family Residence Main House

A House of the Late Taisho Era

The Former Oana Family Residence Main House (旧小穴家住宅主屋) is the main house of a modern residence of the late Taisho era (1919 to 1926) in Kitafukashi 1-chome, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 31, 2022 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building roofed in tile, with a building area of 154 square metres, altered in two phases, in 1955-1964 and 1965-1974; registration number 20-0612.

A Corridor Plan Under Crossed Gables

The Former Oana Family Residence Main House is entered through a porch on the west, from which a central corridor runs through the house: a Western-style room and two Japanese rooms lie to the south, the kitchen and bath to the north, and a storeroom projects at the south-east corner (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The tiled roof combines a gable facing west with a second gable crossing it (Agency; Matsumoto City). At the middle of the ridge a small gable rises on both the north and south slopes; these are vents to let steam out of the bathroom (Council for Cultural Affairs). The lower walls are clad in horizontal weatherboards and the upper walls finished in white plaster (Matsumoto City).

Small windows high in the gable ends suggest an upper floor, but they only light the roof space and the house has a single storey (Matsumoto City). The city dates the main house to before 1920.

Why It Was Registered

The Former Oana Family Residence Main House was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency sees the fresh spirit of the Taisho era in its porch-fronted exterior.

In its recommendation of July 2022, the Council for Cultural Affairs grouped it with the book storehouse and annex as a well-made house that shows how the castle town's modern residential district developed.

What to Look For

At the Former Oana Family Residence Main House the eye goes first to the entrance. Matsumoto City notes that the porch and front closely resemble one of the houses imported in 1909 by Amerika-ya, a Tokyo firm that built Western-style homes.

Facing the porch is a stained-glass window showing a yacht riding the waves, and to its right the front door opens inward (Matsumoto City). West of the entrance is a lattice window of frosted glass, and beyond it to the south the triangular bay window of the reception room juts out.

The woodwork from the entrance round to the reception room is painted in a pale blue oil paint, a light touch against the white plaster above (Matsumoto City).

Visiting

The Former Oana Family Residence Main House is privately owned and used as support space by the owner's law office, which does not accept general visitors (notice of July 2022). The porch and the triangular bay window are both on the west side, but how much of them can be seen from the street has not been checked. Please do not enter the property. Directions are on the Former Oana Family Residence page.