Kachi-tei: Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright disciple

Many readers know that the old Imperial Hotel, built in the Hibiya area of central Tokyo in 1923, was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was unfortunately demolished in 1967, but several buildings designed by Wright’s disciple Arata Endo still exist throughout Japan. One of them is Hayama Kachi-tei, a former private residence located a short walk from the beachside Hayama Imperial Villa in Kanagawa Prefecture. The original owner was Toshio Kaji, an insurance executive and the manager of the London branch of the trading company Mitsui & Co. It was built in 1928 as his vacation home.

Endo worked closely with Wright on all of the buildings he designed in Japan. Kachi-tei was completed during a particularly prolific period for the architect. His aesthetic permeates even to its furniture and lighting fixtures, making it an extremely rich work of design.

The residence was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2018. Architect Shuhei Kamiya completed renovations in 2020 to give it some modern comforts, but in a way that respected its cultural value. The renovations included transforming a former servants’ quarters in the basement into a new bathroom. It afterward reopened as a short-term rental, and Tokyo dwellers can enjoy it as a nearby holiday house.

帝国ホテル・通称ライト館を設計した建築家フランク・ロイド・ライトの日本人の一番弟子、遠藤新が設計したのが、葉山の御用邸から歩いてすぐの場所にある〈加地邸〉だ。施主は商社のロンドン支店長や保険会社の役員を務めた加地利夫。彼の別荘として1928年に建てられたものである。家具や照明器具にいたるまで遠藤の美意識が貫かれデザイン密度の高い作品となっている。

この住宅が登録有形文化財になったのは2018年。それを快適に、かつ文化財的価値は尊重し改修、2020年に一棟貸しの宿としてオープンした。別荘のような感覚で利用できる施設だ。

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