Visiting Country House Windsor

There were rainy days during my last visit to Japan. So I had to plan accordingly. Some days were more cloudy. Along with needed to be out of my room a couple days for cleaning. So I used one of those days to head to Saitama. Minami in Kuki to be exact. 

I found myself at Kuki Station. A suburb like many of the suburbs around Tokyo. 

It was a walk from the station to where I wanted to go, but I was doing it. Despite many newer buildings along the way, there were a few older traditional places.

Interesting roof tiles. And the weather was getting better too. 

Enough to brighten the day. Plus it was nice to see people doing their best to add some color to where they live and work. 

Getting closer to my goal, I was surprised to see this expatriate. I don't know if there are many Bob's Big Boys left in the US. I remembered how I would go there as a kid. Always got a cheese burger and a chocolate shake. Looking at their menu in Kuki, those items were not being served there. It was all about steak.

However, that was not my goal. This was.

Country House Windsor. A place used for years for magazine photos, shows and music videos. And in case that front door looks familiar...

Country House Windsor was used by MALICE MIZER for their video for "月下の夜想曲", "Gekka no Yasoukyoku". The band members revisited the location for a Hot Wave video interview and photos for advertising and a Fool's Mate magazine article. Here is drummer Kami's Fool's Mate photo. In the music video you can see singer Gackt levitating in front of this door.

It was interesting to see the outside of this building. It's been called Victorian styled architecture, but with less molding and decorative details, it's more Edwardian. It does stand out from the surrounding homes.  

It is not open to the public but a person can reserve it for photography of the inside. Even without that, it's still possible to imagine what it must look like inside. 

You can get an idea from browsing the website for the house. Or by the MALICE MIZER photos. Like this one of guitarist Közi sitting at those windows. 

Round towers in houses in Japan are unusual. This house has two, along with balconies and stained glass windows. These long windows are also unusual, but also probably easier to create for this round tower room.

Which was the location for guitarist Mana's photo for the April, 1998, Fool's Mate magazine.

While it's not possible to see all of the outside of the building, parts of it are visible from outside the grounds. Like some of the stained glass windows. I was a little surprised by all the vines.

From photos, there is more stained glass inside the house, like in this photo of bassist Yu~ki. A photo of these doors is on the house's website also.

If you want to see more of Country House Windsor, their website is here http://www.windsor.ne.jp/ I'm not sure how much of the information is current since it's been some time since the site was updated. It is fun to see what the inside looks like.