Follow our journey as we renovate a traditional machiya townhouse in Kyoto. Once complete, the renovated machiya will be offered for sale.
The concrete foundations have now been poured. After the concrete had cured the reinforcing and additional supporting framework construction began.
The flooring joists will be installed with a raised floor above the concrete. Originally there were just tatami mats on flooring joists installed over the dirt ground below.
We picked up 3 ranma partitions to install as decorative balustrades above the stairs in the tatami room. Ranma screens are traditionally used as transoms above the doors between rooms in a house. They range from very simple right up to elaborate and intricately carved designs. They serve three purposes – ventilation, light and ornamentation. The use of ranma may date back to the 700s in temple and shrine buildings. They were later featured in the homes of the wealthy, before becoming a common feature of many homes built from the Edo period onwards.
This trio, made from Japanese cypress, dates from around the 1910s ~ 1930s and was purchased from an antique salvage store that specializes in traditional Japanese fixtures for renovation projects.