Kokawa Family Residence Annex

About the Kokawa Family Residence Annex

The Kokawa Family Residence Annex (粉川家住宅離れ, Kokawa-ke Jūtaku Hanare) is a single-storey timber building from 1923 in Takabatakecho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 7, 2008. It has a tiled roof and a building area of 51 m².

Hanare usually means a detached guest wing, but the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes this one as a mon-nagaya, a gatehouse row. It runs east to west along the south edge of the plot, just east of the front gate, and with the gate it forms the public face of the Kokawa Family Residence.

Servants' Rooms and a Barn Under One Roof

The Kokawa Family Residence Annex is a long, narrow building six and a half bays by two, under a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles. As first built, the western three and a half bays housed servants and the eastern three bays served as a barn.

People lived at the end nearest the gate, and goods were kept at the far end. The east sleeve wall of the front gate runs right up to the northwest corner of the annex, which shows that gate and row were built as one composition.

It was presumably called the annex simply because it stands apart from the family's main house. In use, it had nothing in common with a detached guest room.

A Latticed Bay Window Facing the Street

The walls are built in Shinkabe style with exposed posts, finished in Shitami-itabari clapboarding below and white Shikkui plaster above.

The Agency singles out the west end, the face that can be seen from the street, where a latticed bay window projects from the wall. Placing the window on the end that looks toward the gate dressed up the side passers-by would see. Although it held servants' rooms and a barn, the Kokawa annex was designed as part of the house's public front.

Why the Kokawa Annex Was Registered

The Kokawa Family Residence Annex was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Standing beside the gate on top of the stone wall and showing its bay window to the road, this gatehouse row tells the street that a substantial house lies behind, at an estate where the main house itself is hard to see.

Seeing the Kokawa Family Residence Annex

The Kokawa Family Residence Annex belongs to a private home, and the grounds cannot be entered (checked October 2026). As the Agency notes, its west face can be seen from the street; look for the latticed bay window from around the forecourt in front of the gate. There is no official guidance on photography, so avoid capturing the private home. Directions to the estate are on the Kokawa Family Residence page.