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.
Garden Design
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, albeit on a smaller scale, for our garden. We are planning to have a reflecting pool at the end of our terrace, and a stone and gravel path bordered by plants.
Garden Gallery
Tropical Inspiration
Garden Gallery
Below, we will add photos to The Garden Gallery as the garden takes shape, so it will provide a record of the garden development as well as the growth rate of various plants and trees. We will combine native and imported plants, and hopefully create a special and relaxing place in Okinawa