Today, Meguro is practically an urban district, but it was a typical rural area, renowned for its special production of "bamboo shoots" in late 1920s. Only these old private houses now can barely give us an atmosphere of old Meguro as a rural community. This "Kominka" a prestigious private house of old age- is one of such old houses. In fact, it was privately owned by Kuriyama family who lived in Midorigaoka 1 home. In 1979, the house was benevolently donated to Meguro City and removed to be restored to its original state here at this location.

The Kuriyama was one of the old families in former Hibusuma Village, which was situated on the west side of the present Loop 7 in Meguro. Its successive heads held for generations the important position of "Toshiyori" -Old Councillor - of the village administration in the Edo period.

The residence larger in scale than average private houses with a "Nagaya-mon" gate privileged and disallowed for the commons in front of the house and surrounded with dense forest, was symbolic of the high standing in rural areas. You can still find similar old houses in Himonya and Nakane of Meguro city which have some vestige of such residences of senior village officialdom.

The house has a frontage of 13.6m a depth of 10m. We can tell the house was initially built in the middle of the Edo period, judging from a written record on the house and its architectural style. The record says that the house underwent an overall reconstruction in 1857. The structure is characterized with the combination of pillars and beams and the outer verandah along the south side of the house.