Rare Old House For A French Maritime Engineer

DVIDS - News - Historic landmark reconstructed as heritage museum (dvidshub.net)

YOKOSUKA, Japan – For some people, the idea of building a house is a simple one. Hire an architect, choose and approve plans and then hire someone to build it. The tricky part comes when a house is no longer needed, particularly if it’s more than a hundred years old and has historic and cultural value. For Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY), this was an actual scenario at the turn of the 21st Century.

Located on a hill directly across from Afloat Training Group West and behind the CPO Club stood a house built at the inception of the naval base itself. A sizable house by Japanese standards, the wood frame structure was constructed in 1869 for deputy director Jules César Claude Thibaudier, a 29-year-old French maritime engineer. Thibaudier had been hired to assist François Léonce Verny, also a maritime engineer, in the building of Yokosuka Iron Works, which would later become CFAY when it was turned over to the U.S. Navy in 1945.

Coming to Japan at 29 years old, he stayed for nine years to oversee such projects as the building of Dry Dock 1, finished in 1871, and Dry Dock 3, finished in 1874. While Verny traveled back and forth to France, Thibaudier took the lead for the French engineers, according to Tsutomu Shinno, assistant chief of the Cultural Promotion Division, Sports, and Culture for the City of Yokosuka.

“[The house] was specifically built for Thibaudier,” said Shinno. “Once Thibaudier left Japan, the Japanese Imperial Navy used the house. After that, from one to another, [the house had] different purposes, such as a meeting place … and a [U.S. Navy] church” said Shinno. The building was finally used as a meeting place for the Freemason’s according to Shinno.

From 1878 to 2003, the house was used until the added outbuildings developed termites.

“[The] U.S. Navy understood the importance of this as a historical building, so the U.S. Navy paid money to deconstruct the building for considering future reconstruction,” said Kyoko Sugita, community relations specialist for CFAY.

When the house was first constructed in 1869, there were no existing architectural plans, so before the house was taken down in 2003, new plans were drawn to help with reconstruction.

These plans would assist the city of Yokosuka in rebuilding the house on the edge of Verny Park. Dismantled piece-by-piece, the project took four months and was officially given to the city in March 2004. The entire disassembled building has been stored in a Yokosuka city high school since it was turned over.

In rebuilding, the city of Yokosuka reconstructed the outside of Thibaudier’s house employing modern techniques and utilizing some of the original materials. The inside of the house, however, was reimagined to allow for its modern application as a museum and visitor’s center. The trestle beams and some of the original elements were used inside the structure but, a newer, more open layout, lends modern visitors a touch of the past mixed with current Japanese technology.

“This floor plan was actually added when the building was deconstructed. Museum staff tried to draw [the floor plan] because the original floor plan [did not have] enough information” said Shinno. Located closer to the Coaska Mall, the new house was strategically placed in Verny Park directly across Yokosuka Cove from where the original house once stood. The hill now sits empty across from Afloat Training Group West, but acts as a watch stander for what was the location of the original Thibaudier house for 134 years.

On May 29, the City of Yokosuka opened the Yokosuka Modern Heritage Museum Thibaudier Residence.

Included as part of the museum is a mock-up of one of the rooms from Thibaudier’s house, complete with a table, chairs, plates, and a fireplace. Additionally, the new museum showcases a historical movie highlighting Japan’s modern heritage, an interactive map showing the area as it used to be, and more historical information about Yokosuka.
For individuals interested in more information, the city will provide four museum staff members who speak English. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no admission fee but it does cost 200 yen per person to watch the historical movie.

For more than 75 years, CFAY has provided, maintained and operated base facilities and services in support of the U.S. 7th Fleet’s forward-deployed naval forces, tenant commands, and thousands of military and civilian personnel and their families.