(English blog to follow)

この家にはチグハグしたところが多々ある。四代の家主を経て、時代時代の改装を積み重ね、明治、大正、昭和の建築様式やトレンドが散りばめられている。

修復するにあたり、①なるべくオリジナルに戻す。②必要または許せる範囲の近代化は認める。③予算、材料の無駄を意識する。そんなゆるーいルールを頭に進めてきた。

昭和の模様入りガラスがはめ込まれた建具は、今や希少価値、という大工さんのアドバイスもあり、まだまだ使えるしオリジナルでなくても残すことに。でも家の顔に当たる玄関のアルミ戸は見るに耐え難かった。今までは家を崩さないことを優先しなければならず、戸の付け替えは後回しになったが、今回思い切って明治大正時代の蔵戸をヤフオクで購入（崩壊の危機を脱した証？）、鍵やガラスをはめ込み玄関戸として使えるように改造することにした。

結果、長い間指に刺さっていた棘を抜いたくらいスッキリした。

 

自転車通勤、８６歳の大工さん

工事を受けてくれたのは近所の『スーリール』というNPO（聴覚障害者団体）。ひょんなことから彼らの存在を知り、腕のいい聾唖の大工さんがいることが分かり、一年近く気になっていた。なんと大工のボスは８６歳。それも毎日、自転車で片道４０分通勤しているという。手話通訳兼営業を担当するアルゼンチン人のダブル（ハーフ）大内氏に相談するとすぐ来てくれて話はまとまった。

玄関周りにはドアの他にも気になる箇所がたくさんあった。柱の痛み。朽ちた板床をはがした後にさらけ出された土間。母屋の床下の風通しの悪さ…。

そんな頼んでいないところも気にかけてくれて適切なアドバイスに感動した。夫がやるつもりだった土間の板張りも、驚くほど良心的な見積もりに後押しされ、結局、お願いすることに。

板の間　VS　土間

土間はオリジナルだし、板の間にするか、かなり迷った。でも最近は家族や友達が頻繁に泊まりに来るようになったし、板の間にしてリビングスペースを広げられるメリットは大きい。そして無償で荒れ果てた中尾家の空家を修復する夫は、畳に長く座っていられない（オーストラリア人だからね、胡座さえかけない）。そんな彼のためにもソファなどが置ける板張りスペースを設けることにした。

できたてのフロアは、夫が広島の会社が出しているベンガラ塗料を塗って、きれいに仕上がりました。

『健常』とは。

しかし真夏の作業は大変だ。大工の皆さん、本当にご苦労さまでした（それもほとんどが７０歳以上）。

手話のできない私でも意思の疎通に問題がないどころか、ものすごくスムーズだった。仲介者である大内さんの人柄と努力も大きい（日本の建築文化を分かりやすく説明する頼もしさ。ウチの息子たちもこんな青年になってくれるといいな）。黙々と仕事にかかる大工さんたちに頭が下がった。私は８０になっても社会に貢献できるのか、到底自信がない。どちらが『健常』か。深い感銘を受けた出会いでもあった。

Circa mid/late 19 centuries – our “new” door

This old house features various styles and architectural trends through past 200 years.  While some are fascinating and valuable, others are simply ugly and do not decorate the house in any positive way.

We have a few loose rules that we keep in mind when renovating this house;

1. Keep the original features where we can

2. Due to necessity or convenience, modernisation is allowed to a certain extent

3. To be budget conscious and minimise material waste

One of the things we kept that was not original was sliding doors with patterned glass panels.  It feels very 70s but according to one of our builders apparently we cannot reproduce them so we took his advise to keep them.  Besides, while they do not look the best, they are close to a century old which is old enough.

One thing we have been dying to replace, however, was the ugly aluminum entrance door.  But our priority has been to NOT let the house collapse.  So up to now beautification gave way to structural enhancement.  In our 6th year of renovation, I think we can finally put more money and time in making the house look beautiful.

So buying this “new” door made me feel like we have come a long way.  Very satisfying.

It’s an old storehouse (kura) door circa mid 1800. It was designed for indoor use so we needed to make a few modifications such as putting glass panels behind the grid and incorporating a few locks.

87 years old builder who rides push bike to work

We found this group of NPO builders near us and it was totally a coincidence.

The builders were lead by 87 years old boss, Mr. Nakagawa, and his apprentices were in their 7os.  All with hearing difficulties.  Mr Ohuchi is the only person who can hear and speak, and he manages the organisation as well as serves as a sign interpreter.  Mr. Ohuchi also has sound Japanese building knowledge and thanks to him we had no communication problems.

In fact they were all so nice to deal with, their quote was more than reasonable,  I was so happy to make the decision of asking them to help with our house.

Earthen Floor vs Timber Floor

While we were changing the door, we looked at the earthen floor of the entrance area.  It was a timber floor when I was a little girl.  My grandma often had a nap there in summer as that was the coolest spot in the house.  When we returned to this house 6 years ago after nearly 30 years, the floor boards were so damaged we had to rip them and the original earthen floor was revealed.  I had never seen it like that before and a part of me really wanted to keep it that way.   But putting shoes on every time we wanted to go from bathroom to bedroom was nuisance.

Besides, having a timber floor there again meant gaining an extra living space which was too good an idea to dismiss.  I also wanted a space where we could put a sofa so my poor hardworking husband can sit and relax.   He is Australian and it i

s not so comfortable for him to be sitting on the floor all the time…

It took 5 days and our builders have done a beautiful job on the floor.

We painted the timber with this special brown paint (made locally) which is designed to give the ancient persimmon brown colour.  The entrance area has really transformed.

Inspiring People

This bit of renovation was really memorable for me.  It was so cool to see Mr. Ohuchi communicate with his team of builders in sign language.

Meeting these polite, energetic and skilled people with hearing difficulties really inspired me.  Would I be able to contribute to society like they do when I am 80?  Who will be disabled then?  I am so in awe of them.