Home from home: An ALCOVE Onomichi story
A chance encounter with the sleepy seaside town of Onomichi in the Hiroshima prefecture of Japan in 2018 led to our found family and a place to call home!
Whilst many of you may be familiar with ALCOVE’s development from a 100 year old house to a modern day home, some of you may not be as familiar with the story behind its construction and the reason as to why we came to choose Onomichi as a place to create a home in! Today we’ll be looking at the backstory behind ALCOVE’s 5 years as a working home, and expand a little on the city’s hidden treasures that we love the most.
So, why Onomichi?
To answer that, we’ll have to travel back in time a little bit to an invitation to Tomo No Ura, a district within the west of neighbouring Tajima island. A town known for its artisans and craftspeople with a deeply rooted sense of cultural heritage, a friend by the name of I-san took us there to enjoy the sights and sounds of this unique place. She thought we’d enjoy it from both a design and a cultural aspect, and she was right- what a lovely place!
In our whirlwind tour of the region, including a very memorable trip to the beautiful Bella Vista resort and getting to see the delightful Joyato Lighthouse against the backdrop of a sparkling sea, we got a real taste as to why I-san would take us to this unique place. We had not seen anywhere like it before, and it was a real delight! On our final evening, we were treated to dinner in the company of I-san’s childhood friend, Y-san, who told us all about the city of Onomichi where he and his colleagues would often visit to begin the Shimanami Kaido cycle path. This was an amazing thing to hear about- a city where you could cycle freely whilst enjoying the views and sea air of the inland sea? A dream come true, especially for the two of us who were recently enamoured with cycling!
On the road again!
Fast forward to the next year, and we were firmly planted in the heart of Onomichi at Hotel Cycle, a building dedicated solely to the joys of cycling. Sat with us at a breakfast of locally sourced produce were Y-san and his friends, meticulously laying out the map for a very special cycling tour of the neighbouring Setouchi Islands.
The strong bond formed over a mutual love of cycling allowed us to create a dedicated group of cycling enthusiasts, and so ‘Sweeney Cycle Club’ was formed.
At our largest, we had over 11 riders all kitted out in exclusively created jerseys that were created especially by Y-san’s workplace, in collaboration with our design ‘Safety In Numbers’. That was certainly a sight for passers by when riding in unison as we made our way across the beautiful roads, and at one point cheering and clapping could be heard as we sped past! This was all thanks to the careful playing and knowledge of Y-san and his friends- their extensive knowledge of the Shimanami Kaido and all its delights ensured that our ‘Tour de Gourmet’ set off in style!
On our debut ride, Y-san and the team took us from one delicious meal to another- our first stop being the artisans Ushio Chocolatl, an independent bean-to-bar factory with beautiful packaging and even more beautiful fondant, lunch at Ruryon Curry House (I still dream of the butter chicken rice!) and warmed ourselves up for the journey back with a clutch of freshly fried croquette from a famous stand specialising in the piping hot treats. Since then, we’ve also had delicious Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, Setouchi lemon ramen and sampled quite possibly the largest array of ice cream that I’ve ever seen!
The little joys of Onomichi.
Speaking of our stomachs (as always) brings us onto one of the most delightful things about Onomichi- its surprising shotengai, filled with all manner of delicious treats and local delights! Many enterprising people have opened up in Onomichi City, including, but certainly not limited to: a famous pudding and pastry stand, a handmade fishcake (which remains a top-10 favourite food of mine) shop with an array of their freshly made snacks laid out like gemstones, a cute and quick to sell out handmade soy donut shop, a deliciously fresh strawberry parfait bar, a cafe specialising in all manner of sweet potato based treats (we personally recommend the creme brulee sweet potato dessert) and of course our local coffee haunt Antenna Coffee, serving us fresh coffee all day along with some of the yummiest club sandwiches to have ever existed! It’s so wonderful to walk down such an inconspicuous looking shopping arcade and see the flourishing businesses with lines that run out of the door!
It was by visiting and falling in love with this quirky and surprising city that we really quite suddenly felt as if we had found our home. A place with strong connection to its roots, whilst allowing room for change and growth and supporting artists- what more could we ask for? The enthusiastic and welcoming community of craftspeople and artisans were also a huge boon to us, including project manager K-san and architect A-san as well as local maker U-san, themselves also friends and the people who suggested ALCOVE’s property, too!
ALCOVE’s first steps.
Upon first look, renovating the house was a huge project. But, the location and house itself had huge potential, and after some inspection by the genius builder-slash-fisherman F-san we realised that it may just be the perfect place. Onomichi is known for its mountainous stone steps and winding alleyways, called ‘logi’, and our little house, at the crossroads of the shotengai, was the perfect location for us- not too many steps, a pretty view of the inland sea, and right at the doorstep of the shotengai. What more could we ask for?
Renovation work on ALCOVE took about a year, and whilst we were certainly not prepared for a few revelations about the property (including a centuries old well located beneath the home!) we were more than happy to embrace them- most noticeably beautifully burnished wooden beams that run across the length of the second floor, and a beautiful stone wall that framed the back window in a healing and relaxing manner.
Since we were newcomers to Onomichi, we wanted to ensure our building work and general presence did not become a huge nuisance to the surrounding businesses and residences both in and around the logi. Our superstar builder, F-san, made it his duty to carefully schedule building work and even called on all the neighbours on a weekly basis to see how the noise was affecting them and ensure that there were minimal disturbances. All of his diligence paid off, and he and his team had finished renovations to the home in a staggering six months.
Reclaimed materials like wood, brick and stone were used throughout the house to ensure that the property had its roots in the history of Onomichi itself. A collaboration with our Japanese agents WALPA allowed our custom paints to be used throughout the home, and all of the fixtures and furnishings were bought locally- indeed our favourite part of the process was going to an amazing local shop that sold antique and modern stoneware and furniture for the home, as well as collecting little treasures for display.
Whilst the interior was built to be a modern and airy space, we also wanted to ensure that it retained its charm-in fact, a happy memory of ours was a delivery person arriving at the home and being quite astounded at the interior when we opened the door! We invited them in for a closer look and they said that they could never have imagined such a beautiful and modern home walking down the traditional logi, and that truly made us swell with pride at how hard the team had worked on creating ALCOVE.
It’s these chance encounters with the residents of Onomichi that cemented our love for the town. And they can also lead to amazing new relationships and enterprise, too! One day, whilst sitting by the lapping deck of Hotel Cycle with our friend J-san during a break in our cycling trip, we met a pair of friends who happened to be passing by and started up a conversation, thanks to their very cute little dog and wealth of freshly picked citrus fruit to share. Well, it turned out that one of the pair was actually a professional showroom organiser, and she was so intrigued by our story that we stayed in touch. Fast forward a year and she came to visit the completed house and fell in love- fast forward another few years, and she is now the official caretaker and housekeeper for all of our events and long term tenants!
This month, we hit out five year anniversary since opening the doors of ALCOVE to welcome our dear friends and found family. With sincere thanks to them, we were able to allow our little home to flourish and thrive in constant good spirits, and it's with a heart filled with joy that we look forward to many more years in their generous company. Without the overwhelming generosity and support of our friends, we could never have even begun to make ALCOVE our home- and we're so grateful that we can now call it that.
With loved ones from all over the world, not just Japan, having blessed us with their presence in our home, we cannot wait to see what adventures the future may hold!
Looking ahead to what we hope will be many more years, we want to continue encouraging many more people to fall inn love with the wonderful city of Onomichi, and of course welcoming them to use our space at ALCOVE. To find out more or enquire about using the space, get in touch via our ALCOVE Onomichi page. We look forward to seeing you!