The Grand Tour

A 75-Year-Old Japanese House Was Transformed Into a Zen Weekend Hideaway

With wide-open balconies and storybook views, this home is a sunset sanctuary
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The entrance pulls double duty, serving as both an entryway and a mudroom. “We leave our shoes here and swap them for soft house slippers, as is customary here in Japan,” Philippe says. The space features a Hang-It-All coatrack by Eames for Herman Miller, a stool by Timber Crew, a washi tray by Craig Ancelowitz (both for DamDam Atelier), a calligraphy on canvas by Mikiko Kayama (purchased from Gallery Tonoto Kyoto), and a wall sculpture by Yuichiro Kobayashi.

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When Giselle Go and Philippe Terrien—cofounders of Japanese clean beauty brand DamDam—began searching for a quiet pied-à-terre on the fringes of Tokyo, they had a checklist at the ready: access to the city where they primarily reside, great privacy, and a mountainside build.

So, when their list remained largely unchecked even after several potential matches, they knew they had to reconsider their options. “We were introduced to this house by our friend and now neighbor Naoko Kawamura (who oversees architectural projects for Hiroshi Sugimoto and David Chipperfield). We fell in love with the peninsula where the house sits, overlooking spanning views of the Pacific Ocean and Mount Fuji,” Giselle recalls, adding that the 75-year-old property had been left dilapidated for decades when they acquired it. And so, knowing that they would need help both reviving it and navigating the limitations and regulations of its protected heritage land, they turned to Motosuke Mandai of Mandai Architects to help bring their vision to life.

“We have a few items by David Chipperfield, who is an old friend of Philippe. These pieces have seen better days and, rather than discard them, we asked our friends at Timber Crew, a woodworking company, to refresh the table by putting a new table top. They used two thick slabs of hemlock wood, connected by traditional iron Japanese joinery called chigiri,” Giselle explains. The round chair is the Pumpkin by Pierre Paulin for Ligne Roset, the leather and teak armchair is a vintage Holstebro Mobelfabrik, and the Bauhaus-era black leather chairs were purchased from a Japanese vintage shop. “We commissioned the shelving unit from Douguya, a beautiful furniture shop in Yoyogi Uehara, our Tokyo neighborhood.” The washi artwork above the sofa was done by a washi artisan, and the small sculpture above the fire stove is by Yuichiro Kobayashi.

The dining room doubles as the couple’s work space. “The window’s shoji screens are original to the house, and the room is surrounded by bamboo on the north side and looks out to the sea on the west. We also keep the stereo in this area, so we play a lot of music here,” Philippe muses. The room features a Flowerpot Verner Panton 1968 pendant light from &Tradition, Series 7 dining chairs by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, an Airframe dining table by David Chipperfield for Cassina (with a restored walnut-wood table top by Timber Crew), a custom shelving unit by Douguya, an Akari 3x table lamp by Isamu Noguchi, and a bouquet of wood and ceramic tchotchkes from DamDam Atelier. The walls take on a personal touch with a washi artisanal artwork on one wall, and a painting by Philippe’s son, James, on the other.

For Giselle and Philippe, much of the home’s allure lay in its patina. It was, after all, built by American postwar photojournalist Horace Bristol (who had worked on John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and was a photographer for Life, Time, and National Geographic in the 1950s), and had quite a history. “It was a challenge to keep as much of the past while equipping it with the modern comforts that are more suited to our current lifestyle,” Philippe reflects. “The house is also situated in a protected location in an area overseen by the local temple. We worked very closely with them to ensure that we were meeting all regulations.” The couple kept as much as they could from the original shell, including the wood beams, ceiling, and shoji screens. What they couldn’t salvage, like the original wood floors or the wood-burning stove, they replaced using the same materials to preserve the integrity of the original house.

“The kitchen is where Philippe spends most of his time because he loves to cook,” Giselle says, adding that it used to be much smaller, sharing space with the old bathroom. “We redid the layout to remove the bathroom and make it bigger. It’s positioned at the heart of the home with side doors that lead to the garden, where we have lunch on sunny days.”

One thing the house lacked, the couple admits, was sunlight. And so, together with Motosuke, they planned for a seamless indoor-outdoor layout that would embrace the surrounding landscape. “One of the things Mandai-san did was put floor-to-ceiling windows in the traditional ranma (wall panels), creating the illusion of a floating roof and inviting in natural light.”

“This is where we spend most of our time indoors. We often take Zoom calls here and hang around the wood-burning stove in the winter. The room faces out to the sea with a direct view of the sunset, while windows facing the garden frame the sofa,” Philippe says. The couple opted for an Akari 21A pendant light by Isamu Noguchi, an Archimoon Soft table lamp by Philippe Starck for Flos, and Glo-ball table and floor lamps by Jasper Morrison for Flos. The sofa is an N701 modular model from Ethnicraft, while the coffee table is the Airframe by David Chipperfield for Cassina.

The sunroom was once a traditional engawa (a hallway to access different rooms of the Japanese home). “We enlarged it and opened it up to a seaside deck, where we often enjoy an aperitif at sunset. We also use this space in the spring to store seedlings to be planted in the garden,” Giselle shares. The room plays host to an Akari 1AG table lamp by Isamu Noguchi, an antique rattan table, a lounge chair from a Japanese vintage shop, a Malawi chair from Couleur Locale, and wood trays made by Timber Crew. The cushions on the ottoman were made by Giselle herself, using textiles sourced from various markets.

The interior evokes an old-world travel museum: There are Japanese ranmas here, shoji screens there, sugi-finish (charred cedar) floors, and preserved pinewood ceilings. In the same vein, the decor is a mélange of midcentury-modern design, flea market and vintage finds, Japanese craft, and textiles picked up from various travels. “I was born and raised in the Philippines, and Philippe is French but moved to Tokyo after college. We have both lived outside of our own countries for most of our lives, so our interior style speaks to our multicultural backgrounds and the chosen things we truly love,” says Giselle, who used to be an editor for several fashion publications, including Harper’s Bazaar Singapore, before founding DamDam with Philippe. For the pair, their home, like their brand, is a living, breathing entity. Much of the furniture around the house has been brought to life by artisans they personally know.

“The only room in the house that closes off completely and where we didn’t put glass windows on the ranma is the bedroom,” Philippe says, adding that the seclusion affords the feel of a private sanctuary. The bed frame is by Timber Crew, while the table lamp is the Archimoon Soft by Philippe Starck for Flos. The wood stools were designed by Timber Crew for DamDam Atelier.

Ask them about their favorite spot and Giselle is quick to answer: “We love the living room. We hardly move from there in the winters when we have a fire to keep us warm. In the summers, you’ll find us outdoors on the balconies. I also love the bathroom ofuro (bathtub) in the winters, while Philippe loves the kitchen regardless of the season!”

The large ofuro (bathtub) nestled at the end of the bathroom provides an enjoyable spot to relax.