Tea House Tranquility
by Phoenix, HSM team writer
I had the opportunity to visit Granzella’s Tea House space with its ceremonial tearoom recently. I was enchanted by the calm feeling of the space. From the spawn spot where you enter, to the little nooks and hide-away spaces in the garden, it is a delicate wonder.
The tea house and the tea ceremony that is conducted there are ancient and important parts of Japanese culture. Home’s own Tea House is a space that ascribes to the Wabi-sabi teaching: through humbleness one can find beauty in simple things. Like most of the Japanese styled spaces we have from Granzella, this one is embedded with history and authentic little details. Granzella has been faithful to traditional tea house style in the bamboo garden, the entrance gate, the forest and the tea house itself.
The space is big, without overwhelming its focal point, the tea house itself. Granzella’s tea house isn’t lost in the gardens because the space is too big — instead, it blends in with the gardens and forest through its natural, rustic style. This is as it should be. It is a nice surprise as you look around the space, to see it there suddenly.
Nestled in the garden, the tea house is a traditional structure designed for the sharing of the tea ceremony. Its architectural details include a door of wooden lattice and small windows, to control the light in the intimate space inside. Traditionally, one had to crawl through a small doorway to enter the room, but that might have been a stretch for an avatar.
The tea house here is situated in a private garden space. The tea gardens themselves were as important as the tea house and is faithful to this aspect of the space as well. In creating the personal space, Granzella has left out no important detail. Traditionally, the structure was for aesthetic and intellectual fulfillment, and this is evident in the present, virtual tea house. From the garden entrance, the pathway (roji) leads you into the garden. The outer garden path (sorto-roji) leads your guest to the waiting place (achiai), where you greet them. From there you and your guest gather at the tsukubai, an arrangement of stones around a basic water feature, to rinse your hands and mouth. This is a symbolic removal of the dust from the outside world in this peaceful place.
Granzella imparts to its space the importance of the journey through the paths here, just like in the real world of this tranquil ceremony. The journey guides the mind to another place along the paths, a place of tranquil discovery.
The tea house itself offers two types of view to the visitor before entering the little structure. These views are similar to those of the Home camera. Once inside, you can look out the window onto the garden, or examine the inside of the structure, with its rice paper sliding doors, and tatami mats covering the tea house floor. This viewing can be done without being in the ceremony itself. As for the tea ceremony, the guests are invited to join by the owner/host. The event takes place after the guests join, inside the small intimate space, just as in the real world.
The tea room was one of possibly two rooms in the tea house. It was built small, to create an intimate event between the host and his guest. Granzella kept to this historical truth in its design and implementation of their space. The tea house is not just a space based on a real structure and event, it is a true tea house in Home. Granzella’s Tea house is a delight for those who have a fondness for Asian culture in general. And I am certain that even those who do not will find something here they like. If you have any of the Japanese themed personal spaces, this one will be a great addition to your collection. If you don’t have any Japanese spaces yet, I think this one would be a great start.
The Tea House space is a place for reflection and socializing with friends new and old in Home. When I visited the space, I was struck by the attention to detail Granzella showed once again, in their bringing to life another historical space in Home. Just as in Edo village and the personal space associated with it, Granzella left nothing out. The forest is dense with shadow in some places, and illuminated by filtered sunlight in others. The sounds of the forest around you, wrapping you in a cocoon-like experience, which is the experience of the traditional tea ceremony.
There’s one thing I had issue with, when I entered the space. I thought it could do with an additional control for the volume of the natural sounds. At first these seemed too loud, too overwhelming. However, after I had been in the space for a while, I changed my mind on this. The sounds seemed to fade and become almost unnoticed, as naturally they should be, part of the forest. After that initial feeling subsided, everything in Granzella’s Teahouse space was a delight. To add to the charm of the space Granzella has included the tools needed for the tea ceremony. The set includes a Teacup, a Tea kettle, and a Dango.
As with most spaces in Home, there are a few other items of interest tucked away in the space for you to discover as you explore it. Granzella’s space even displays the Japanese word for some of the relevant items you will find there — a very nice touch in an estate full of such lovely and subtle touches.
December 27th, 2012 by Phoenix | 4 comments
Phoenix writes poetry and is a photography enthusiast, along with writing for HomeStation Magazine. She is currently studying for a BFA in Creative Writing and BA with concentration in Photography. psn ID phoenixstorm21
youtube.com/user/phoenixstorm21
I keep looking at this space and hovering over the purchase button. I want it, I like the functionality that Granzella put into their spaces, and this one has quite a few of them. Day/night controls among others. I’m just not sure how often I’d go through this ceremony.
Nice write up though, more reason to consider this space…
It’s a neat space to be sure however to my way of thinking it’s a bit small. But it is peaceful and quiet. I wish the deer scarer that we can get worked on other spaces like it does in this space but it doesn’t.
The ceremony is cool but I too would not want to do it many times.
There’s a second section to this space that has to be earned through the EDO public site as I recall. musicman1234 (HCV) gave me a tour and and it was nice to get beyond the rock.
Recommended for peace and quiet and those who like Japanese culture. I might put my active machine gun in there. Well!!! I guess I got some of you worked up, didn’t I?
I too like the peace found in this space, but I won’t be buying it because I have the Japanese space already and I rarely use the spaces I already own except to go there for redoing decor when I get new pieces and games that are ingrained in them. The tea ceremony is a hoot though, I had fun going there and using only the rude comments to see the guest and hosts reactions. But I can’t see myself going back over and over to do this. Nice account of the space though Phoenix.
I’ve purchased this Space. It has cured my curiosity and definitely is worthy of the investment.
Great article, Phoenix.