Somehow I haven’t posted about our second ‘akiya’ abandoned house on the blog yet! With everything that’s been keeping us busy (our guesthouse opening, visa extension, the holidays, next year’s planning, trying to grow our YouTube, and now farm preparation) I guess I forgot to write an official photo blog.
Let’s take a moment to walk through of our second abandoned house. This former ryokan (inn) was built in 1940, and has been abandoned for “an estimated 33 to 40 or more years”. The house and two small plots of nearby forest and farmland were purchased for ¥2.8 million ($18,000 USD).
This house is in a perfect location, just a short 2-minute walk from our first abandoned house, now lovingly renovated into Benton Guesthouse. In stark contrast to our first renovation, which was completed in less than six months, this massive ‘ryokan’ will take us many years to renovate. Maybe a decade. We’re even considering hosting workshops during renovation, so we can all learn together.
So for those who thought our house renovation days were over, now that the guesthouse is open on AirBnB… boy, have I got a surprise for you!!! Just take a look at the floor plan! This doesn’t include the attic! Where should we begin?
Our YouTube video, giving you a first look inside this ¥2.8 Million ($18,000 USD) house ⌄
The Kitchen
It’s what we’ve always dreamed of: a two room kitchen, plus a long hallway full of storage! This kitchen used to prep meals for the inn, as well as bento meals for the neighborhood, and cater events.
This video is the first of many “unboxing” videos, as we slowly make our way through the massive former ryokan (inn) that we purchased on Ōmishima. The first room is the kitchen, because, we have to eat! Let’s take a look at everything on the shelves, before we empty them, clean them, and finally, sort through all the cool stuff. Some of these kitchen treasures we’ll restore and use, some will go to the guesthouse, some will be given as gifts. If we’re left with anything particularly cool that we can’t use, we’ll consider opening a little eBay shop. But we will definitely find good use for so much of these belongings.
Our YouTube video, unboxing the kitchen of the former ‘ryokan’ inn ⌄
4 Guest Rooms
The entire upstairs of the house is what used to be guest rooms. There’s lots of natural light from the big windows and the cracks in the walls! You may be surprised that most of the water damage is actuallyfrom *a window that has been left open for decades* and not from roof issues! So, that’s a plus.
Another thrilling installment of our “unboxing” videos, as we slowly make our way through the massive former ryokan (inn) that we purchased on Ōmishima. This video shows the upstairs, which consists of four guest rooms. Three of the rooms are pretty sparse, and one room has a small pile of cool stuff. All of it has been sitting untouched for decades.
Our YouTube video, unboxing four guest rooms of the former ‘ryokan’ inn ⌄
We have many more rooms to explore and unbox together, so please be sure to join us for that. There are still rooms in this house, an attic, and a garage, pretty much completely unexplored! And theefore unphotographed! We are literally so busy, that, besides items that we were able to restore and use in our guesthouse, we haven’t had the time to go through all the “treasures”. Some rooms are packed to the ceiling with vintage items in very good condition. What do you think we’ll find?
Another recent YouTube video, discussing garbage, recycling, and responsible akiya cleanup ⌄
Thanks for reading,
Dani & Evan Benton
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