Built in Japan in 1887, relocated to Brisbane, Queensland the same year, and then dismantled and transported to Ingham in north Queensland for reassembly in 1962, the Japanese House has had an eventful history.  

Named Yeddo, the house was the outcome of a Queensland judge’s fascination with Japanese architecture when he travelled to Japan in 1886. Put up at a 200-year-old house near Kobe, the judge, G.W. Paul found the interiors to be cool and airy despite the hot summer.

Having decided that the house would be perfect for Queensland’s semi-tropical climate, he had a unit fabricated and shipped to Brisbane. The house arrived in Brisbane along with five Japanese builders – three carpenters and two plasterers, who assembled the modular elements on a sloping corner site in New Farm into a single-storey dwelling of about 18m x 14.5m, raised off the ground on 72 brick stumps.

Over the years, the house had a series of owners until 1962, when the house, which had come up for demolition was bought for 600 pounds by Pam Markwell, who had it dismantled and shipped 1,600km north to Ingham for assembly. Now located at 5 Lynch Street, the house was inherited by her architect son, Hugh Markwell, who along with his wife Jan Cattoni set about restoring the house in 2011.

To prepare for the complex restoration of the house, the couple travelled to Japan in 2008 in search of expertise and assistance, meeting Japanese historians and traditional building restorers. Following a survey visit in 2010, Japanese master builder, Akira Mitsuda accepted the job, explaining that “such a house comes to a master builder usually once in their lifetime and that he anticipated that it could take up to 50 years to adequately restore it”.

During the roof restoration by two teams of Japanese craftsmen, it was found that some of the timbers dated back to pre-1887, which was attributed to the practice of recycling wood from older structures. “We learned that the peony rose decorative roof tiles and the circling verandas are more consistent with Shinto shrines and monks’ residences, as opposed to a domestic house. The maker’s mark on the roof tiles was identified as belonging to a craftsman in Hiroshima, rather than near Kobe where the house was first commissioned. Such have been the secrets that the house continues to slowly yield,” the Markwells commented.

The house had no windows; instead, the exterior wall consisted of white sliding shutters, which could be slid away into built-in storage boxes to open up all or part of the house. Sliding panels were used to separate and enclose the interior rooms, which originally included five bedrooms, two drawing rooms, a dining room, storeroom, pantry, hall, and a bathroom. The central area could be opened up to form one large space.

Considered the “oldest traditional Japanese house outside Japan”, the house was entered into the Queensland Heritage Register in 2003. The house also received a heritage conservation grant from the Queensland Government to fund repairs to the timber sliding doors and install copper guttering.

The elaborate roof restoration was completed in 2017, for which the Markwells received a National Trust silver medal. The restoration work included sourcing over 5000 old tiles as well as Japanese workmen who travelled to Australia to complete the work.

Sources:

https://newfarmhistorical.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NFDHS-Newsletter-May-2020-web.pdf

https://www.portablebuildingsaustralia.org/

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