Under the Four Roofs

A miniature streetscape made of four roofs

This wood-framed house is located in a quiet residential neighborhood of Kyoto between Entsu-ji temple and Mount Hiei. Inspired by Kaii Higashiyama’s painting End of the Year, part of his series of seasonal Kyoto landscapes, our goal was to use rooflines to create the appearance of both a single building and a streetscape.

Living spaces of varying sizes are arranged side by side beneath four staggered roofs. Sturdy exposed beams made from Japanese cedar and cypress grown in Kyoto Prefecture extend out to the eaves, adding a second striking element to the house’s identity. The exterior walls are hand-finished with ridged mortar and the windows framed with cedar so that the house as well as the streetscape will become more beautiful with time.

The house is full of elegant Kyoto touches, from the linked gable roofs, deep eaves, and staggered footprint to the linear arrangement of rooms, locally grown timber, hand-finished exterior walls, and “borrowed scenery” of Mt. Hiei.