A journey from land acquisition to home and garden
Building our new home in Okinawa
Why Okinawa
Churamui
Churamui is Okinawan for Beautiful Hillside. We purchased a plot of land on a hill with a view of the ocean. It is located on the Motobu Peninsula, in the northwest part of Okinawa’s main island, north of the city of Nago and a 90 minute drive from Naha, the island's main city.
Life's a beach
Okinawa has some of the best beaches in Asia, yet is relatively unspoiled and underdeveloped. As long-term residents of Japan, we have finally decided to invest in buying land and building a home for our future enjoyment in this sub-tropical island.
Our Approach
We decided to work with a local architect to design and build our home. It will be a modern concrete structure, resistant to the typhoons that pass regularly through the islands. The building aims to take advantage of the view of the ocean we have from our land.
Design Considerations
Churamui House design
We chose Okinawa-based architect, Takeshi Hatakeyama (https://clairarchilab.com/ ) to design the house. His modern Japanese minimalist designs take into consideration the relationship between the land and the buildings he designs, and he seemed interested in designing a house that would suit our split-level plot.
Interior Design - concept
We wanted the house to quietly reflect Okinawa itself—the soft gold of the sand, the turquoise of the sea, and the layered greens of subtropical forests. These tones complement the neutral concrete, without overwhelming the architecture. With light-filled spaces and large windows, the palette helps blur the boundary between inside and out, so the house feels like an extension of its surroundings.
Garden Design - inspiration
Sub Tropical Island
Tropical Inspiration
Tropical Inspiration
Churamui House is located at 26.4 degrees North, a latitude similar to Southern Florida, the Persian Gulf and Northern Mexico. It has annual rainfall of just over 1,800mm (71in), with an average low of 14C (56F) in winter and average high of 32C (89F) in summer. It has a humid sub-tropical climate.
Tropical Inspiration
Tropical Inspiration
Tropical Inspiration
The goal is to develop a tropical-inspired, lush garden at Churamui House. The images here (https://raymondjungles.com/) provide inspiration, for our garden. With a reflecting pool at the end of our terrace, and a stone and gravel path bordered by plants, the garden is evolving into different zones.
Garden Gallery
Tropical Inspiration
Garden Gallery
The Garden Gallery below provides a record of the garden development, as well as the growth rate of various plants and trees. We are combining lush tropicals with mounded dry garden areas, as the rocky soil drains quickly, and parts of the garden are in full
sun. This is a work in progress. Enjoy!