When escaping the urban sprawl of Tokyo becomes a priority, many Tokyoites look to the seaside town of Hayama. Facing the Sagami bay and within a fairly easy commute of the big city, but with a much slower pace, it’s easy to see this beachfront little town's attraction. It is also the setting for this new Hayama house, commissioned by a family who approached Japanese architecture studio Case-Real for the design.
While the client, a family of four, had been living in the area for some time, they jumped at the opportunity to buy the neighbouring plot to their current home in order to expand their footprint. With most residential plots in Japan being modest in size, the norm is to build in two or three storeys to allow for the necessary square footage. Having secured a second plot, however, the client could afford to ask Case-Real's Koichi Futatsumata to design a single-story home to fulfil their needs – a move seen as something of a luxury in Japan.
As the family like to entertain, the kitchen takes centre stage within the minimalist architecture of the home's layout. All of the house's other rooms are planned around it, with easy access back to it. As everything is literally under the same gently sloping roof, there is a seamless flow throughout the house; from the more private bedrooms and bathrooms on the west side to the double-height living area, and small en-suite guest room at the east of the building.
The living room, expanding to two floors through a mezzanine, adds a nice touch of vertical design to the otherwise single-storey plan. A single step leads down to a cosy carpeted lounge area with a custom-made sofa. A simple steel staircase leads up to a small library area above the lounge.
Materials and colours are kept to a minimum throughout the home, adding to the coherent and calm design. There are painted white walls and ceilings, and white oil-finished oak floors. The grey Mortex kitchen counter is complemented by a feature wall of the same material at the back of the wood-burning stove. Futatsumata’s own delicate wall sconces made by Japanese manufacturer Lighting Sou Inc provide soft ambient lighting throughout, leaving the ceiling almost completely bare (except for one large pendant above the dining table), adding to the serene and spacious feel of the house.
The large sliding doors facing the kitchen open up to extend the dining area onto the partly covered deck running along the south side of the house – the perfect environment for lazy summer nights in the company of good friends.
INFORMATION
-
Curtains up, Kid Harpoon rethinks the sound of Broadway production ‘Art’He’s crafted hits with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus; now songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) tells us about composing the music for the new, all-star Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s play ‘Art’
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekHere in the UK, summer seems to be fading fast. Moody skies and showers called for early-autumn rituals for the Wallpaper* team: retreating into the depths of the Tate Modern, slipping into shadowy cocktail bars, and curling up with a good book
-
To celebrate 50 years in business, Giorgio Armani is opening up his extraordinary archive to everybodyLaunched at the Venice Film Festival, Armani/Archivio is a digital archive charting 50 years of Giorgio Armani through the house’s most memorable designs
-
Campaigners propose reuse to save Kenzo Tange’s modernist ‘Ship Gymnasium’ in JapanThe Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s former Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium is at risk of demolition; we caught up with the campaigners who hope to save it
-
A new photo book explores the symbolic beauty of the Japanese garden‘Modern Japanese Gardens’ from Thames & Hudson traces the 20th-century evolution of these serene spaces, where every element has a purpose
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July housesFrom geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
Mayumi Miyawaki’s Fukumura Cottage puts this lesser-known Japanese modernist in the spotlightDiscover the little-known modernist architect through this private home in Japan’s Tochigi prefecture countryside
-
A Karuizawa house is a soothing, work-from-home retreat in JapanTakeshi Hirobe Architects play with scale and space, creating a tranquil residence in which to live and work
-
Naoshima New Museum of Art is a home for Asian art, and a lasting legacy, in Seto Inland SeaThe Naoshima New Museum of Art opens, marking a seminal addition to the Japanese island's renowned Benesse Art Site Naoshima; we explore Tadao Ando's design
-
Behind a contemporary veil, this Kyoto house has tradition at its coreDesigned by Apollo Architects & Associates, a Kyoto house in Uji City is split into a series of courtyards, adding a sense of wellbeing to its residential environment
-
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa on harmony, nature and their RIBA gongThe SANAA duo are celebrating their RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 in London today, and talked to us about self-reflection, the year ahead, and the need to create harmony in our environment
