The Japanese Houses

There are three houses in the Japanese Garden. 

The first was purchased and moved here in 1911 from a Pasadena “Tea Garden”. However, it is not, in fact, a tea house (and should not be confused with the Rose Garden Tea Room, which offers tea service and lunch). This house is an upper-middle-class Japanese home from the 1800s, built in a traditional style.

On the hill above is an actual Ceremonial Teahouse, built in Kyoto in the 1960s and donated to The Huntington by the Pasadena Buddhist Temple. After restoration in Japan, it was placed in a traditionally landscaped tea garden as part of the Japanese Garden’s centennial restoration in 2011.

The third building, opened to the public in 2023, is a restored 18th-century home and agricultural compound that offers a glimpse into rural Japanese life some 300 years ago. Built around 1700, this 3,000-square-foot residence served as the center of village life in Marugame, Japan.

Please note that permission to film inside the house must be considered on a case-by-case basis and should not be assumed.

More about the Japanese Houses