Yodoko Guest House is an Important Cultural Property of Japan
Yodoko Guest House was designed in 1918 by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of America’s greatest modern architects. It was originally built as a second home for the Yamamura family.
Following Wright’s return to the U.S., two of his acolytes, Arata Endo and Makoto Minami, took over the project and saw through its completion in 1924. In 1947, Yodogawa Steel Works purchased the building as a residence for its company president. And since 1989, the building has been open to the public as Yodoko Guest House.
In 1974, the house was designated an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government. This was the first time such a designation was given to a reinforced concrete building or to a building from the Taisho Period (1912–1926).
Wright is known in Japan as the man who designed the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (which no longer stands today). Yodoko Guest House is now the only private residence in Japan that was designed by Wright and that remains in its original form.
The house is built on a long piece of land that slopes gently from north to south. Each story of the house is built along an incline, like a series of steps. Throughout the building we see evidence of Wright’s philosophy of harmony with nature: Oya-ishi stone with carved geometric patterns, complex ornamental mahogany timberwork, decorative copper plates with a leaf motif, and more.
From its rooftop balcony atop a verdant hill, the house provides beautiful views of the Rokko mountains, the city of Ashiya, and Osaka Bay.
Site area: 5,200 ㎡
Building area: 359.1 ㎡
Total floor area: 542.42 ㎡
Structure: 4-story reinforced concrete
Designer: Frank Lloyd Wright
Construction design, construction supervision: Arata Endo, Makoto Minami
Construction: Mera Builders Office
Completed: 1924
