Please follow our old Japanese house renovation. We bought an abandoned vacant house “Akiya” in the countryside of Japan located near Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. The house is not old enough to be a Kominka or Mika, but it still has old Japanese joinery and big beams, which are beautiful. The renovation is not 100% DIY since I am using a local Japanese carpenter. The cool part is that his father built the house. Additionally this is not a low cost renovation. The intent is to build a forever home we can enjoy for many years to come.
We paid $35,000 for the property. It consists of a 2 story house built in 1975, small guest house, large 2 car garage, storage building, and 3/4 acre of land with many fruit tress. I bought a JDM Kei truck AKA Japanese Mini Truck to help clean the previous owner’s property.
The house seems to be structurally sound, however we will perform an extensive renovation in the entire house. Walls, ceilings, floors will be insulated. New kitchen and bathroom units will be installed. We are even planning on installing a wood burning cast iron stove.
As very common when purchasing an Akiya in Japan, the personal belongings were still in the house. It took multiple trips to the local recycle center to dispose of all the property.
The grounds were overgrown with many weeds and vines (Kuzu). This will take a while to get under control, but it is looking much better around the property and I think the neighbors are happy to see us cleaning up.
Please follow us as we complete an extensive renovation.
Social Medial Links:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/lhcovian/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088736035119
#akiya #abandonedhouse #traditionaljapanesehouse #kominka #japantravel #keitruck #minitruck #japan renovation house
10 Comments
nice house and the carpreter who build the house ( his son) is helping you that is such a great story.
Lots of potential in that mess! As usual, the exposed beams look great in these Japanese homes
If you haven't done the rewiring yet insist that they try to hide it as much as possible having exposed ceilings. Putting wiring right in peoples view is not considered poor workmanship in Japan but is a pet peeve of many westerners. Also, you can choose the color of the wiring to match your tastes otherwise you will get the standard grey.
Insane scenery! Are you gonna live there permanently or is it gonna be a vacation home ?
Can you discuss the average prices of the material being used for the home, such windows, doors, insulation etc. Thanks
also, average cost of demo
Good Stuff! That's a great idea to add things like you did at the beginning of video.
Lastly, can you discuss the advantages vs disadvantages of living in the countryside.
My husband used these plans from Woodglut and he is very pleased.
It's really interesting to see the progress. Best of luck to you!