House with a Doma Living Room｜Custom Home Examples by Architectural Offices9Picks｜A Generous Doma at the Center of Daily Life

“Doma living,” which integrates the doma with the living room, is one approach to creating a rich spatial composition that reinterprets the wisdom of traditional Japanese dwellings for contemporary life. A generous doma directly connected to the outdoors accommodates a variety of everyday scenes: a work area where one can spread out belongings without removing shoes, storage for outdoor equipment and bicycles, and a third‑place–like zone for casually receiving guests. The selection of finish materials such as mortar or stone, the detailing of level changes and boundaries with the living area, and the strategies for daylighting and ventilation all strongly affect the usability and comfort of the doma. Design firms consider the doma’s size and location in relation to the client’s lifestyle, proposing homes that create a generous open margin at the heart of daily living.

A residence punctuated with a variety of interior and exterior nooks and gardens of different scales. While occupants can choose comfortable spots according to season or mood, the spatial arrangement is designed to allow a gentle awareness of family presence. Connection to nature through sightlines, sound, and scent, together with a calibrated sense of proximity that permits drawing near or stepping back, creates the richness of this house. Precisely because contemporary mobility has made the locations of daily life more flexible, the project pursues an environment in which one can live authentically while remaining aware of family and the surrounding landscape. The generous spaces make the home fitting of the affectionate nickname “Zou no Ie” ("Elephant House") given by the daughter.

This is a residence for a family of four planned on a site adjacent to a forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. It also serves as a creative base for the husband, a ceramist, and the wife, an illustrator, and the theme is to incorporate the forest scenery into daily life. The living area is a double-height space that opens widely toward the forest, and a black earthen floor (doma) echoes the exterior scoria, blurring the boundary between inside and outside. The building keeps its height low, sitting quietly as if to nestle against the forest.

A stoic residence housing a gallery, located in Nagakute City, Aichi Prefecture. The plan uses a courtyard placed at the center of the building as a focal point, allowing daily life to unfold beautifully. The entire ground‑floor slab is finished in steel‑trowelled concrete, and the exterior walls are unified with a mortar steel‑trowel render treated with a water‑repellent coating — simple wet‑applied materials that retain the traces of craftsmen’s handwork. The pared‑back, simple and tranquil spaces, stripped of superfluous ornament, present the occupant’s daily life and art in a modern manner.

Located in an urban area of western Saitama Prefecture, this project replaces a long-held family property with a two-family (two-generation) dwelling. The existing garden, with its mature trees, constitutes a valuable remnant of greenery within the block; the design carefully addresses both the preservation of this garden and the spatial relationship between households. Retaining the wisteria pergola, the scheme provides a single shared entrance while otherwise fully separating the two households, and includes two built-in garages. The entrance and garages are located on the west-facing street, and a central hall distributes access to each unit. Each household is organized around a living room that opens onto the garden and takes advantage of the roof slope to define the interior volume. The exterior is expressed as a large mono-pitched roof, with eaves and ceilings finished in solid Nishikawa-sourced hinoki (Japanese cypress) boards.

Taking advantage of a location a five‑minute walk from the sea, this residence was designed to enjoy a resort‑like everyday life. Returning from the beach and heading straight to the bathroom, or enjoying barbecues and parties on the terrace, enables a lifestyle in which interior and exterior spaces connect naturally. On the first floor, centered on a courtyard terrace, the living, dining and kitchen (LDK) and the bathroom are arranged in a U‑shaped plan to create an airy, open interior. In addition, the floors, walls and parts of the terrace were finished by the owners themselves through DIY, deepening their attachment to the home. The house embodies a seaside lifestyle that continues to mature over time.

This home for a family of four was planned on a 26-tsubo site densely surrounded by houses. By placing a small courtyard and stairwell at the center of the home and guiding the soft light reflected by curved walls into the interior, it creates a connection with nature. The configuration was inspired by the ancient settlement of Mesa Verde, protected by a canyon yet open to the earth. Changes in floor levels and built-in benches create a variety of places to stay, bringing a rich sense of depth to the small spaces. It is a delicate home where light and daily life quietly overlap.

A residence in Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, for a family that runs a steel fabrication plant. The layout and materials were selected by carefully considering the sense of distance from the adjacent factory. Inside, a circulation route was planned around a handmade Japanese-style room constructed with steel frames, allowing the family to move freely throughout the house. Steel furniture and staircases made by the family themselves are placed throughout, creating a dialogue between the presence of steel as a material and the warmth of craftsmanship. By bringing the activities of the factory into the life of the home, this is a richly lived-in residence where the character of the family comes alive in every detail.

A 128-year-old kura attached to a kominka built in 1897 (Meiji 30) was renovated into a comfortable residence. Damaged beams and a leaning foundation were reinforced, and the heavy, difficult-to-operate entrance joinery was repaired and reused. By improving insulation and airtightness, the interior remains cool in summer and warm in winter. Existing floorboards were repurposed for kitchen surfaces, stairs, and counters, while some wall and ceiling finishes were executed by the residents themselves, retaining the building's memory and character.

A small detached house located on a street corner in an urban area. In response to the site’s frontage on two roads, the building is arranged in a T-shape to create a triangular garden while securing privacy with slit windows. By arranging the living room and wet areas around the garden, the compact home achieves a sense of spaciousness and openness. Mortar is used for the floors and built-in kitchen, while the wood tones are carefully coordinated, creating a space where the richness of the materials coexists with minimalist beauty.