Ehrismann Residence

Ehrismann Residence
エリスマン邸てい
Ehrismann Residence in 2014
General information
Type	Residence, Seeing spot, Tearoom, Theater for lent
Address	1-77-4, Motomachi, Naka-ku, Yokohama
Coordinates	35°26′15.2″N 139°39′4.5″E
Construction started	1925
Opened	1990年ねん
Inaugurated	1926
Demolished	1982 (later reconstructed)
Client	Fritz Ehrismann
Owner	Yokohama-shi Midori no Kyokai (ja:横浜よこはま市し緑みどりの協会きょうかい)
Technical details
Structural system	wood frame structure (ja:木き構造こうぞう (建築けんちく))
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Antonin Raymond
Main contractor	Shimizu Corporation

Ehrismann Residence (Japanese: エリスマン邸てい) is a western-style residence built for Fritz Ehrismann, a 20th-century Swiss merchant, located at Motomachi, Naka-ku, Yokohama.

History

The residence was built in 1925–1926 on 127 Yamanote as an abode for Fritz Ehrismann, a Swiss merchant. It was designed by Czech architect Antonin Raymond. After his death, the ownership changed several times. Although no damage was done during World War II, the building was dismantled for the construction of the apartment in 1982. Finding historic value in the structure, the Yokohama municipality purchased the disassembled pieces and reassembled the building within Motomachi park in 1990, 400 m (1,312 ft) northwest of its original location. In 2001, it was designated as a City's historical architecture (ja:横浜よこはま市し認定にんてい歴史れきし的てき建造けんぞう物ぶつ).

Architecture

The building is a two-story wood-frame structure with a basement floor, built by Shimizu Corporation. The first floor was used for a drawing room, kitchen, and living room-cum-dining room. The second floor had bedrooms and a bathroom. Before relocation, a Japanese-style annex existed, which has not been restored on account of components that were lost.

The architect was Antonin Raymond. He was brought to Japan by Frank Lloyd Wright as an assistant in 1919 when the Imperial Hotel was constructed. Although his distinctive five principles of nature, simplicity, straightforwardness, honesty, and economicality underlie the design, this building is his early work as an independent architect, so that the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright can be found in the details, such as furniture, for instance. It has roofs of gentle slant and first-floor eaves, which emphasizes the structure's horizontality. Windows and the other openings are relatively wide, and have blueish-green shutters. Steam heaters were installed in the entire building and, in addition, it has a fireplace in the drawing room as the client requested. Because Ehrismann's wife was Japanese, the bathroom and toilet are separated.

Today it is open to the public for free as a part of Motomachi park (ja:元町もとまち公園こうえん (横浜よこはま市し)). They display records associated with the facility on the second floor, and the kitchen was changed into a coffeehouse called Shoyu Cafe, lit. soy sauce cafe, which serves soy sauce bread, puddings, and other dishes.

• 
  Living room-cum-dining room
• 
  Drawing room

References

• Sadahiko, Tanaka; Yusuke, Aoki; Takeshi, Kanei (2012-10-01). 死しぬまでに見みたい 洋館ようかんの最高さいこう傑作けっさく. ja:エクスナレッジ. pp. 112–115. ISBN 978-4-7678-1451-3.
• インク・インコーポレーション (2010-11-25). 洋館ようかんさんぽ EAST. グラフィック社しゃ. pp. 36–37. ISBN 978-4-7661-2184-1.
• 横浜よこはま市し歴史れきし的てき資産しさん調査ちょうさ会かい (February 1996). 都市としの記憶きおく―横浜よこはまの近代きんだい建築けんちく(II). 横浜よこはま市し. p. 35.

External links

• エリスマン邸てい （ja:横浜よこはま市し緑みどりの協会きょうかい）