Forest bathing reaches new levels at this glass cabin by TNA Architects in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture.
Founders of the Tokyo practice, Makoto Takei and Chie Nabeshima, designed the Ring House in 2006, with bands of glass on all four sides. It is located in Karuizawa – a famous resort town about an hour from Tokyo, offering cool summer weather and beautiful mountainous scenery. John Lennon and Yoko Ono reportedly spent several summers there in a holiday home belonging to one of Ono’s relatives.
Soaring upwards, like the surrounding trees, the 1,097 sq ft Nagano property is set across three storeys. Its design lends itself to forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, without stepping outside, as living spaces are bathed in dabbled light through the foliage.
Photography: List Sotheby’s International Realty, Japan
Photography: List Sotheby’s International Realty, Japan
Photography: List Sotheby’s International Realty, Japan
Photography: List Sotheby’s International Realty, Japan
The narrow wooden kitchen and fireplace fit around horizontal wall panels so as not to obstruct views. Similarly, pale open staircases blend into the spaces, floating upwards toward two bedrooms with wooden screening for privacy and a sunken bath with a foliage vista.
The Nagano Prefecture house is for sale via List Sotheby’s International Realty for $1,540,616. Its current owner built an additional one-bedroom studio adjacent to the main house, with a sharply sloping ceiling and glazed elevations. There’s also a cast-concrete outdoor seating area with a cosy firepit for evenings outdoors.
