Matsuura Family Residence Annex

About the Matsuura Family Residence Annex

The Matsuura Family Residence Annex (松浦家住宅離れ, Matsuura-ke Jūtaku Hanare) is a single-storey timber building from around 1910 in Kudo, Oji-cho, Kitakatsuragi-gun, Nara Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on September 10, 2010. It was altered in 1985 and again in 2001.

It stands north of the main house with its ridge running east to west, linked to the main house by a connecting corridor. Hanare usually suggests a freestanding cottage, but this one is the inner wing at the back of the house rather than a separate building. The tool storehouse continues from its west end, and together they fill the north side of the Matsuura Family Residence.

Two Different Faces

The annex has a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, with a lean-to eave along the south side. The walls are Ōkabe construction, with the posts hidden inside thick plaster, finished in white Shikkui. On the north side, vertical boards are run high up the wall.

That contrast is what to notice on the Matsuura Family Residence Annex. The south side is open, with its lean-to and veranda; the north side is closed and faced with tall boarding. The north wall faces outward at the back of the plot, and the boards were most likely put there to protect the lower wall from wind and rain.

Inside the Matsuura Annex

A veranda runs along the south side, and the rooms include a Kuramae and two six-mat rooms. Kuramae is the term for the front room or covered space before a storehouse door. Read alongside the tool storehouse attached to the west end, it suggests that the Matsuura Family Residence Annex served both as living space and as the way into a storehouse. The Agency for Cultural Affairs does not say, though, which storehouse this kuramae leads to.

The building area is 85 m², the largest of the six after the main house. Like the main house, it dates from around 1910.

Why the Annex Was Registered

The Matsuura Family Residence Annex was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency calls it one of the elements that make up the estate. Its note on the tool storehouse adds that the annex and the storehouse together give the back of the property a solid, weighty presence, so it is this pair that gives the Matsuura Family Residence its depth.

Seeing the Matsuura Family Residence Annex

The Matsuura Family Residence Annex is part of a private home, and its interior is not open (checked October 2026). It stands at the back of the plot, north of the main house, and how much of it can be seen from outside could not be confirmed. The interior can be seen only during Oji Town's special openings. There is no official guidance on photography. Directions and contact details are on the Matsuura Family Residence page.