Tearoom (chashitsu), Sausalito, CA

This is a 6 tatami-mat traditional Japanese tearoom with a brazier or hibachi in the center of the floor to heat water for tea. A hook in the ceiling is for a rope-and-pole assemblage which holds a kettle over the hibachi. The ceiling is divided into three sections with three different patterns including thin slats of red cedar woven together (ajiro), alternating red and white cedar tiles (go-tenjo), red cedar paneling held by bamboo poles that are twined together (kakekomi-tenjo).  Walls are surfaced with Japanese mud plaster (juraku).  Sliding wooden framed doors covered with rice-paper (fusuma) enclose entrances and a storage closet.  The tearoom has a Japanese-style alcove (tokonoma), a space for art objects and flower arrangements. The alcove floor is cherry wood, and the small window is constructed with thin, latticed bamboo (shitaji-mado).  On the left side of the alcove is a round cedar post (tokobashira) important to tearoom architecture.  A sliding shoji screen opening to the outside garden can be partially raised to bring more light into the room.