We fell in love with Takayama when we visited last month , I wrote about it here.
But most questions have been about our gorgeous home while we were there.
Our house for our time in Takayama played a huge role in helping us fall in love with this magical town.
Yes. A whole house. A whole Japanese house – just for us!!!!
The house is called Manabi Stay and the website is here.
This house was so close to the station, the shops, the restaurants, the morning markets. It was perfect but we also weren’t on the “main drag” so it was so quiet and quaint too.
It was just the three of us staying but this house can accommodate as many as 7 adults ( even more than 7 if your group is made up of a mixture of adults and children.)
Can you tell that my kids adore the entrance?
They called it our house… “There’s our house, Mum! Here it is!”
Oh .. and incase you were wondering… the streets surrounding the house look like this.
Of course, just like in all Japanese homes, it is important to remember to remove shoes before stepping up into the main house. I was delighted that our stroller also fit nicely into the lower level of the entrance hall.
Whereas, for me ( although I could still appreciate the beauty of that gorgeous wooden entrance) I was all about the bath and the tatami floor on the second storey.
The bath is actually outdoors ( don’t worry there is also a standard shower indoors so if a bath isn’t you’re thing, you’re still covered.) So you can sit in the bath while looking out into that gorgeous Japanese front garden. The bath is deep and, when I bathed alone, I let warm water trickle into the bath while I was in it. The sound and the view … better than any hotel spa I’ve ever been to.
This is the entrance to the bathroom ( just off the living and dining/kitchen area.
And then there is the second floor…
It is tatami and it is absolutely stunning.
Tatami makes me feel relaxed just looking at it. I want to lie on the floor in a spot of sunlight like a cat when I see tatami.
The tatami area is where futon’s can be laid out if there are most than 4 staying guests but there are beds for up to 4 people ( we smooshed them together in each room to make two doubles, though.)
Please excuse the unmade beds in the pictures below but I actually really love this picture. It shows how crisp and clean and light the second floor bedrooms really are.
I found this home to be particularly family-friendly – although I would like to remind you to close the bedroom and / or tatami room doors at bedtime if you have a baby who crawls or a toddler as the staircase is steep and you wouldn’t want very small kids to attempt it on their own. My 4 and 6 year old had no problem at all.
And then on to the purely practical ( and mighty convenient ) parts of the house…
The washing machine was right next to the shower and was a lifesaver after humid end of summer travel.
And this is the vanity area of the main bathroom (there is a toilet room upstairs too.)
This is the downstairs living area – where my son liked spending most of his time – sprawled along the sofa.
For a house with so much character it just felt so new and modern and clean.
The gorgeous garden that can be seen from the living room and from the bathtub ( lush!!) is mostly designed to be looked at. I let my kids have a teeny look around but it is REALLY important that the space is not disturbed and certainly not used for things like barbequeing etc.
There are lots of convenience stores located near by (7-Eleven – 5 mins walk, Family Mart – 7 mins walk, Daily Yamazaki – 11 mins walk, Lawson – 15 mins walk) but we filled the home’s fridge and freezer mostly with options from our local supermarket “Super Yamada” ( it is on google maps) and local produce from the daily Miyagawa morning markets.
This is what the outside of the supermarket looks like. It is 7 minutes walk from Manabi-Stay and 12 minutes walk from Takayama Station.
And one of my favourite of elements of Japanese supermarkets is the fresh deli section. It makes for a really easy throw together dinner. A salad plus a bento style menu option like a croquette or a piece of meat or fried fish or vegetable tempura.
I know my readers love knowing what grocery ingredients I buy so here is some of my shopping basket contents on the first day.
I wish I had taken some better photographs to show more of the gorgeous, high-ceilings in the kitchen and dining area. But my kids loved sitting ( and spinning) at the bench top and I couldn’t believe how well equipped the kitchen is. There was salt and pepper, cling wrap ( aka Saran Wrap), two full sets of crockery, cutlery, chopsticks, a rice cooker, kettle, pots and pans and all the standard cooking utensils.
The house is called Manabi Stay and the website is here.
