555 has a hip-and gable roof. In Japanese the style is called irimoya 入母屋 and it’s mostly used for temples, castles, public buildings, and as one source says “rich peoples’ houses.” And now our house, too. Our irimoya has an extra special architectural twist: the gable ends are windows.
It is a complex roof design and definitely not the easiest thing to build. There are many angles and edges with intersections that are pretty much guaranteed to leak. That’s according to Sasaki-san, who is building it! He is not excusing himself from good workmanship; irimoya is a leaky, fussy design.
And maybe that’s why only rich people and temples opt for it; it’s costly to upkeep. One of the reasons we have builder’s insurance on the house is so that leaks get fixed with a minimum of trouble, at least for the first few years.
But even if it is leaky and expensive, it is beautiful. Our house has a profile that is dramatic and a little quirky. It suits us well.
