A deep hinoki tub, as generous as a sake barrel, filled to the brim. Slide open the windows and the bath opens onto the little courtyard garden — stone lantern, a single pine — so that your soak becomes half open-air. It is the kind of bath you will find yourself returning to, again and again, throughout your stay.

The courtyard garden, framed by walls of charred black cedar, was composed to be at its most beautiful when seen from the bath. By day, sunlight filters through the leaves and traces patterns across the moss. By night, the pine — lit softly from below — floats on the surface of the water. To feel the open air and the green so close is a pleasure that belongs to this house alone.

Step through the noren curtain, and at the heart of the living room you will find one large round table. When everyone gathers around a single table, conversation draws closer too. Three generations of one family, or a circle of old friends — take this machiya entirely for yourselves, and let Kyoto unfold from under one roof.