Charming space with Scandinavian furniture

Rie Kimoto’s Instagram caught my eye: a charming space with Scandinavian furniture that reminded me of Alvar Aalto’s own residence. When I checked to see where this place was, I found it to be an Airbnb accommodation in Tottori Prefecture. The price is reasonable, and the warm hospitality of the hosts is well received. I was looking forward to visiting there.

Check-in and Guest Rooms

For dinner, I went to the seafood restaurant “Umi” and ate the famous “mosaebi-don,” a bowl of rice topped with a variety of shrimp, and arrived at flat.maeta around 7:00 p.m. when it was getting dark. As we approached the inn, our hosts, Jun and Yoshiko, were signaling us with a flickering light, “This is the place. Please come on in. After being shown around the common living room, which is also used by Jun and Yoshiko, we entered the guest room. Multiple Lewis Paulsen lights gently illuminated the room,

The bookshelves are lined with books on architecture. Names of famous architects from Japan and abroad such as Alvar Aalto, Tadao Ando, Yoshifumi Nakamura, and Yasutsugu Horibe line the shelves.

The walls of the bath are surrounded by water-repellent wood, and the bath is lit by a light, creating a peaceful space. The host, Mr. Jun, is in charge of cleaning the guest room water area. He said that he runs the exhaust fan almost all day long to keep the walls clean, and wipes water droplets off the walls. The space is more luxurious than a hotel, and I think I will be taking a long bath tonight.

Cut out camellia flowers, picture window

The spacious semi-double bed helped me sleep well. When I got out of bed, my eyes caught sight of the window, which was full of camellias in full bloom.

There is another room at the back of the main bedroom with two single beds and a desk. The greenery seen from the window and the wooden setup of the small window are impressive.

The key to comfort is the connection between inside and outside

During stay, we had a chance to talk about architecture with Mr. Jun. Although he is now retired, Mr. Jun returned to his hometown Tottori after gaining experience in Tokyo, and has worked as an architect on a variety of residential projects. The materials and fittings used are important, but the goal of house building is to create a space that feels comfortable. What kind of space is comfortable? Jun says that it is a house where the inside and outside are well connected. For example, using materials for the terrace from the inside of the windows to create a natural connection, and picture windows that bring beautiful views of the surrounding area into the house are mechanisms that connect inside and outside.

Drawing a plan is not the same as building a house

Once an architect draws the plans, he is in business. He said, “I could have just drawn the plans for my own house and left it to the carpenter, but I wanted to build my own house by myself, so I spent about two years building it with the cementing technique I acquired while helping out in the family business as a child. He said, “The carpenter was seeing in 3D what the architect was seeing in 2D, and I realized how different the views were, and if the drawings were not good enough in some areas, there were leaks.” If something is not right, the consequences fall on you. With a sense of humor, he said that it was an experience for him to learn firsthand about his own inadequacies.

It wasn’t like this from the beginning

The iconic living room that is the face of flat.maeta had no storage at first, and was built gradually as they lived there and figured out how much stuff they had. At first it was overflowing with stuff,” Jun laughs. Jun laughs, “At first it was overflowing with stuff. He also recalls one time when he had to eat with his down coat on because the long window was made with a single pane of glass and had to be opened or closed. But when you realize that each beautiful house was built over a long period of time through trial and error, you can relax and realize that all you have to do is work hard.

Living in Matsue after the children grow up

After his children grew up, Jun began to live briefly in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, a place he had longed to visit. From a countryman’s point of view, the castle town of Matsue was something to aspire to.” He’s so free,” Yoshiko laughs. Yoshiko-san laughs. You can imagine that Yoshiko’s support was very important to him. When she started looking for work in Matsue, she was hunted by the boss of the Matsue architectural world and ended up working for his company. He won prizes in competitions, was involved in the preservation of the city hall because of its history and culture, and spent many fulfilling days there. It was an episode that made me long to live and work in my favorite city.

Next time in the summer

I heard that some people enjoy barbecuing on the terrace in the summer, and I would like to visit in the season when the cicadas are singing. I hugged them goodbye and as the car started off, Jun and Yoshiko waved to me until I could no longer see them in the distance.

*This article is based on a visit in early April 2025.

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