Caturday Visits Japan: Custom Cat-Friendly Home

A Purrfect House for Cats

Does it make sense to design homes to cater to the enjoyment of cat and dog pet owners? Several design firms are grabbing the pet-friendly home idea by the tail and running with it.

The demand is there, at least in Japan, claims Fauna Plus DeSIGN and its director, Keiji Hirose, a firm known for designing a custom home for 16 cats. The heart of the home features a cat-climbing tree that serves as a spiral staircase leading up to a catwalk on the second floor of the unit.

The catwalk forms a zigzag design and can also be accessed via steps that protrude from the wall, similar to House Taishido’s shelves. Several of the steps are next to small holes in the walls that lead to other rooms.

Other cat-friendly features of that home include:

• a cat-accessible loft that features skylights and windows;
• a multistage cube of shelves with cat beds; and
• a floor-to-ceiling scratching post column, wrapped in hemp rope.

According to Fauna Plus DeSIGN estimates, the cost to design a two-story, detached wooden home built to cat specifications ranges from 3.2 million yen (about $42,000 in U.S. dollars) for a 20-square-meter space (about 215 square feet) — on up to 13 percent of the total construction costs for a space measuring more than 50 square meters (about 538 square feet), the company reports.

If 16 cats weren’t enough, the residence also houses five dogs, which are separated from the cats via a glass door. To house the dogs and allow them outside access, Fauna designed a rooftop garden.

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More details and photos at InmanNEWS.