Satouchi Family Residence Main House

The Main House on the Old Tōkaidō

The Satouchi Family Residence Main House (里内家住宅主屋) is the townhouse of a kimono merchant of around 1872 in Tehara, Ritto City, Shiga Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on September 2, 1998 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its name is read Satouchi-ke Jūtaku Shuoku.

The Agency records a timber building, single-storey with a partial upper floor, tile-roofed, with a building area of 202 square metres; registration number 25-0044.

A Townhouse Built Right on the Road

The Satouchi Family Residence Main House stands at the front of the plot, right on the old Tōkaidō highway, as a Machiya townhouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency records the tradition that the family built it, with its storehouses, when they set up as a branch household and opened a kimono business in 1872.

It is mostly single-storey, with an upper floor over part of the building kept deliberately low. The Agency regards this profile as typical of townhouses of the early Meiji period.

Why It Was Registered

The Satouchi Family Residence Main House was registered as a model of design (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency points to its low upper storey, characteristic of early Meiji townhouses, and to the care taken over the gable end.

What to Look For

Look for the Hisashi eave that runs along the front and turns the corner onto the west side. According to the Agency, the eave of the Satouchi Family Residence Main House wraps around in an L, with a small rain hood fixed above it on the gable end, so the side of the house received as much attention as the street front.

From the road, the modest height of the upper floor is easy to judge.

Visiting

The Satouchi Family Residence Main House is a private home, and no official information on interior access was found. As it stands directly on the old Tōkaidō, its front and west side can be seen from the street; please stay on the road.