Winn’s House of Hokuriku Gakuin

2025-06-01

Ever since I made the pop-up card of the Winn’s House of Hokuriku Gakuin more than 10 years ago, I have wanted to visit the building if I had the chance.
This time, when I had the opportunity to visit Kanazawa City, I made plans to visit the former Winn’s House as well.

Walking along Kodatsuno Dori, I recognized the former Winn’s House by its prominent sign along the road. A sign was posted on the side of the gate, which reads as follows.

“Designated as a Kanazawa Preserved Building
Category: Western-style architecture
Designation April 11, 1983
Former Winn’s House
Designed by American missionary Thomas Clay Winn and built in 1888, it is one of the few buildings in the city in the typical colonial style with clapboards and verandas.
–Kanazawa City"

On the left as we enter is the Alumni Hall.

Going through in front of it, we can see the side of the former Winn’s House.

I came to the front of the building.

What’s that? There is a sign on the door.
It says that the museum is closed.
Though I had checked the opening hours in advance.

It was not because of the opening hours.
Under the “Closed” sign, there was a notice dated April of this year in the name of the institute’s director.

“Notice of the closure of the Winn’s House of Hokuriku Gakuin.
We would like to express our sincere appreciation for your understanding and cooperation in the education of Hokuriku Gakuin. We are going to announce that the Winn’s House of Hokuriku Gakuin, which has been in operation as a museum for 14 years, has been closed. We apologize for the short notice, as we had already announced our plans for 2005.
(omitted)
We are sorry to inform you that the museum will be closed on March 31, 2025, due to the reform of management of Hokuriku Gakuin, which marks the 140th anniversary of its foundation. We would like to express our gratitude for your kindness over the years.
(omitted)
We hope to be able to open the museum to the public again in the future, as part of Hokuriku Gakuin’s management reforms.
(omitted)"

As one can imagine from the text, the closing of the museum had not yet been decided at the stage of planning for the current fiscal year, and it seems to have been hastily decided around March. The date of publication of the document is also not stated, only that it was issued in April. This also gives the impression that the document was issued in a hurry.

According to the document, the reason for the closure is not due to the aging of the building, but to the school’s operational reasons.

The building is a designated the building for preservation by Kanazawa City, and the Hokuriku Gakuin says that it would like to wait for the day when it can be opened to the public again, so I do not think it will be demolished, but I do not know the circumstances, so I cannot say for sure.

It was used as a kindergarten building for the Second Kindergarten attached to Hokuriku Gakuin Junior College of Nursing and Childcare in 1953, at which time the interior partitions and fireplace were removed.

Although I can’t see the interior this time, let’s take a look at the exterior.

In front of the entrance is a veranda. (What is the name of the roofed area on the first floor that is raised above the ground?)

The building was designed by T. C. Winn, but he was not an expert in architecture, so the local carpenter who constructed the building used Japanese techniques.

Window glass has been inserted in the front second floor, but it was not there when the building was first completed. They were installed when the building was used as a kindergarten.

The side view of the building. When I look at the actual building like this, the shape of the pop-up card I made is a little different from the original. I want to fix it.