A House Optimized for Kittehs

by Meg on October 19, 2008

We’ve just been alerted to an epic Kitteh House in Japan. Not only is this place modern and beautiful, it’s optimized for kitteh livin’.

Check out how cat steps lead to cat walks…(left) cat beds built under the bathroom sink (right)

Japancathouse1

Special, um, kitteh bathrooms (left) and nest/nooks built under the stairs (right)

Japancathouse2

Ceiling walks (left) and special stairs (right)

Japancathouse5

Don’t make me say it—the folks across the pond are kicking our asses yet again, aren’t they Heather V.?
These fine pics and many more over at My Himalayan Cat Goma Blog!

{ 77 comments }

1 Stefanie 10.19.08 at 8:26 am

Wow, just wow. I want this house!

2 Stef's Husband 10.19.08 at 8:29 am

No, you can’t have that house. :)

3 nakey 10.19.08 at 8:29 am

This would make dusting a challenge.
But is uber awesome!

4 DaytimeDeb 10.19.08 at 8:38 am

Eh, for once they copied us… The cat house in San Diego (Bob Walker and Frances Mooney) has been around for at least a dozen years. They even published a book about it.

Still, there are some improvements in the new house. I must say I like the shelves/stairs!

http://www.amazon.com/Cats-House-Bob-Walker/dp/0836221834

[Hey, I actually built a system of jewel-toned cat ramps into our first house because of that book! Lockable trapdoor into the upstairs bedroom & everything. One day I'll probably do something like it again, though not in our *current* house... - Ed.]

5 HRHQueenCat 10.19.08 at 8:48 am

oh Hai – I want this house too – so much …

and the cleaners …

and the pawsome kittehs …

6 Crystal T 10.19.08 at 8:54 am

Awesome! My husband and I want to buy a house, and amongst all the many difficult choices we’ll have to make, we’re keeping our kitties in mind too. I want them to have lots of windows and spaces to explore.

7 starling 10.19.08 at 9:06 am

I love that house! Not because of the kitties, but because it’s so lovely and light and spacious! That’s so hard to find in Britain.

One day, I’m gonna build a house like that. With kitties. *looks determined*

Which reminds me, I forgot to buy a lottery ticket.

8 so_much_love 10.19.08 at 9:27 am

I don’t think I’d let my cat have this much free reign for the simple reason that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to get him into the carrier and/administer any pills/retrieve ‘borrowed’ items.

The outdoor courtyard bit would be nice, though.

9 Yoshi 10.19.08 at 9:40 am

I want this house. Otherwise I will modify whatever house I end up getting to make it very kitteh-friendly.

And then I’ll populate it with adorable (rescued) orange kitties!

10 Poohbear 10.19.08 at 10:46 am

Tineh cat windows at the end of the cross beams !!

Mmm. Am going to build the cat steps (Köt Gösteppens from Ikea?) and maybe the catwalk. Nothing too good for my bebehs.

11 staticgirl 10.19.08 at 10:57 am

That is just wonderful! It’s a really nicely designed house not just in terms of cat friendliness too! Lots of light. I like.

12 Von Zeppelin 10.19.08 at 11:03 am

Do any humans live in this house? Or do the servants just come in during the day to clean, feed, and change litter boxes?

13 Khadija 10.19.08 at 11:10 am

I shudder when I think of having to clean up there…

14 Louisa 10.19.08 at 11:11 am

OMG, that’s fantastic, I’m just having my house renovated and a new extension put in – I’m totally going to put in some of those kitty steps and a little raised walkway near the ceiling. Look out CO for piccies next year of an Enflish kitty house on a smaller scale:-)

15 Maddie 10.19.08 at 11:53 am

:O That house is gorgeous!
However, this does mark a dangerous turn in the kitty world-takeover plan… we are finally starting to LITERALLY build our lives around them.
LONG LIVE THE KITTEH OVERLORDS

16 Gail (the first one) 10.19.08 at 12:18 pm

This house is pretty cool! But, does it deprive kittehs from developing their own inherent creativity—-using the curtain rods as walkways, perching on top of the refrigerator, luurkensproinging from behind ze bookcase??

OR, should we be imagining what kittehs could get into if they had these built-in advantages??!?!! Dramatic slap-fights dangling from a walkway? Luurkensproinging on top of your head? Oh, the mind boggles….

17 Two Cents Worth 10.19.08 at 12:46 pm

Awwww. ’tis very cute and looks purrrfect for kittehs. But what about cat hair raining down from everywhere? Need a super-suck ventilation system that cleans kitteh part from air before dey reach da floor! Nao house good for peoples, too.

18 l 10.19.08 at 1:09 pm

And when the cats decide they don’t want to go to the vet… you can’t catch them :) .

19 temperance 10.19.08 at 1:10 pm

you beat me to it daytime deb. although, i have to say, the japanese one is very soothing and minimalist, while the u.s. one is quite psychedelic!
i love them both.

http://www.thecatshouse.com/

20 AmyJ 10.19.08 at 1:16 pm

That is a beautiful house! Love it for kitties, love it for humans. But about those plants on the little shelves? Those would totally be on the floor in our house, courtesy of Mr. Bonkie-head Kitteh. (As for dusting, don’t the kitties do that?)

How many kitties live in that happy place?

21 Jorden 10.19.08 at 1:19 pm

Wow! My socks are officially knocked off.
Beautiful!

22 littleredhen 10.19.08 at 1:31 pm

Amy,in top right picture 2nd kitty from the top is in process of attacking a plant!

23 Totalee Puppy 10.19.08 at 1:40 pm

ED. Would you mind confirming for me the correct e-mail address for Meg? This is a business-related question. I have tried [the correct address] — once without success. My program will not accept [at] in an e-mail address…Really appreciate your help!!

[The addresses listed to the right under "Email Me" do work, but the "[at]” gets replaced by the “@” symbol, and there are no spaces in them. So, the one you tried was correct. And, unless you got an error email back which said something like “undeliverable” or “address does not exist”, then you did in fact send your email successfully. The reason we don’t put a click-able email address right on the front page is to reduce the amount of robotic spam we get. – Ed.]

24 chanpon 10.19.08 at 1:54 pm

I love this house too! This will have to be an inspiration a for future design for kitties and me. *sigh*

25 JR 10.19.08 at 1:58 pm

That’s the house that i’m trying to make. Since we moved into a smaller apartment, I figured my kitties would be much happier with lots of shelves to jump on. It’s not quite as elegant as the ones in the pictures….but, maybe someday….

26 Georgia 10.19.08 at 2:37 pm

I love the drawer with the hole in it! So many times putting laundry away I have had to leave a dresser drawer open because of gaining an uninvited guest who wants to rearrange my socks or sleep on my t-shirts…of course, unless there were holes in all of them – and I have to put my stuff somewhere, don’t I?

27 LisaL 10.19.08 at 2:54 pm

Pretty cool, but I feel sorry for the person who gets a cat who wants to use the bathroom everywhere except for the litter box. UGH.. I don’t even want to imagine that.
It is a mighty nifty house though and I’m sure cats probably love it.

28 Fegli 10.19.08 at 2:55 pm

Beauuuutiful house, and the orange Scottys killed me ded.

P.S. Extra points for the most precarious of dangling kitties in the last pic on the right!

29 DumBunny 10.19.08 at 2:57 pm

I count at least 9 different cats, some of the cats are in more then 1 shot.

30 Selina's Mommy 10.19.08 at 3:17 pm

Japan gets all the fun :(

31 scoobie 10.19.08 at 3:33 pm

Can’t see it working for older cats.

My house isn’t optimised for humans let alone cats

[Yeah, for older cats, you'd want to include some inclined ramps (not too steep), and/or actual cat-sized stairs. Check out the pink staircase on the right, at The Cats' House front page: http://www.thecatshouse.com/ - Ed.]

32 Caitlin 10.19.08 at 3:47 pm

Man, if this were a B&B I would be ALL OVER IT.

33 carmen 10.19.08 at 3:54 pm

OMG! I am so jealous…I totally would love to have a house like that.

34 cass 10.19.08 at 4:28 pm

I have always wanted to do this! I have a door-sitter kitty who would just adore it.

And for those that fear they wouldn’t be able to retrieve their kitties from the rafters – never underestimate the power of gooshy food. (or in the case of whitecat – Parmesan cheese o.O)

35 jackie31337 10.19.08 at 4:30 pm

Awesome house. Makes me wish I was a cat. :) I’m just wondering how humans would get into the nook under the stairs if they needed to, though. Maybe there’s a door somewhere out of sight.

36 Longtail 10.19.08 at 4:34 pm

I love it, but I’d only live in it myself if A.) Someone else cleaned it, and B.) Someone else had the exclusive job of catching this or that cat for vet appointments! :P

37 geodescent 10.19.08 at 4:48 pm

The house is called Plus-Nyan house by Asahi Kasei, a leading house builder in Japan. (http://www.crookedbrains.net/2008/10/designer-house.html)

38 winnie 10.19.08 at 4:55 pm

ummm… that house will be mine, I declare it will be.. MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! ALL MINE! as is… with the cats ofcourse.

39 Krystal 10.19.08 at 5:04 pm

OMG I sooo want this house. I’m gonna winz the lottery and hire that architect.

40 Kell 10.19.08 at 5:11 pm

i like the look of the cat who caught caught using the bathroom. he’s like ummmmm help!!!

41 Gillie 10.19.08 at 5:11 pm

I bet that guy has a great time rounding those cats up when it’s time to go see the V-E-T….

I can just see all of those cats running for he rafters as soon as the carriers come out and then sticking their scratchy little tongues out at him.

42 Zanna 10.19.08 at 5:33 pm

*Sigh*, no home could ever look that way with me in it- not once I’d scattered around my paints and easels and sewing machines and synthesizers and computers and hammer dulcimers and… How do people get by with so little *stuff*??!

43 Michelle S 10.19.08 at 6:02 pm

@Zanna- I was just thinking the same thing. Where would I put my vintage dog ceramics and candy-colored pottery collection? Where would my vintage bats go, or my antique sodapop signs? While that place is ultra-cool, give me my quirky clutter any day. Somehow I don’t think my house is very cat friendly.

44 berthaservant 10.19.08 at 6:21 pm

I wanted to put “Kittie steps” up the wall to a loft in a previous apartment but never got around to it (I was inspired by the original cat house).

We need more cathouses!!!!!

45 starling 10.19.08 at 6:30 pm

Is the precariously balanced one the same one attacking the plant on the second picture? Probably!

46 warrior rabbit 10.19.08 at 6:45 pm

The Cat House in San Diego has an annual open house for the community. At least they used to. I’m not sure they still do; maybe they got too big (drew too many people) for that.

I always thought the idea was awesome, but I wondered about cleaning, too. I avoid knickknacks for that reason. I hate to dust.

47 Aimz 10.19.08 at 7:28 pm

This house is awesome, no doubt about it. I can’t help but think of how many way up high places they would probably hwarf from tho… that would be unpleasant!

48 Not That Mike The Other Mike 10.19.08 at 7:55 pm

Coming soon to MTV, “The Real World: Cat Town.” :-)

49 Marie 10.19.08 at 7:58 pm

That’s awesome! I want that house! Give me! ^_^

50 AmyJ 10.19.08 at 8:06 pm

I noticed that little guy playing with the plant, littleredhen! I wonder if the plants are glued down – or maybe just put there for the photos? Aside from plants, there definitely is an impressive lack of clutter – part of why it looks so beautiful, I guess. No books, no kitty toys, no piles of CDs or mail, nothing! The people must live in some other part of the house.

51 Wicked 10.19.08 at 8:10 pm

Seriously, what if they made this idea into a bunch of cat hotels? Cat hotels across the globe?

Man, I’d never get my cat back from vacation.

52 nads 10.19.08 at 8:13 pm

But do the cats actually use all that nifty modified kitty stuff? In my experience, a cat will sleep ANYWHERE besides its specifically designed kitty-bed, or scratch ANYTHING rather than use its scratching post. They don’t like being told what to do, see?:)

53 Jezebel 10.19.08 at 8:20 pm

It’s Catopia!

54 jmuhj 10.19.08 at 8:23 pm

GORGEOUS home. GORGEOUS cats. And yes, visit http://www.thecatshouse.com for some more amazing cat action on the high beams.

55 Emma 10.19.08 at 8:45 pm

I want to live there.

56 CoffeeCup 10.19.08 at 9:49 pm

My first thought was, “someone’s going to get a cat ambush.”

And I’m right, aren’t I? The beams give the cats perfect tactical position from which to launch an offensive.

57 mydragon 10.19.08 at 10:02 pm

Sadly a lot of that house would be totally lost on my cat. She doesn’t like to be up high at all. Couch level is it for her. But all the little hideouts are great! This is definately a house for the true cat lover!

58 gryt 10.19.08 at 10:03 pm

I love this so much; it adds all this excitement and FUN for indoor kittehs.

59 pandasocks 10.19.08 at 10:08 pm
60 Signe 10.19.08 at 11:11 pm

Ooh it’s paradise!

61 Noelegy 10.20.08 at 12:06 am

I showed this to my husband, who’s quite the handyman. It would be nice to have *some* use for the vaulted ceiling-related high walls in our living room.

62 Jessica 10.20.08 at 12:29 am

A crazy cat lady’s “if I were a rich girl” dream!

63 JennyMcG 10.20.08 at 12:53 am

I am sooooo sending my husband out RIGHT NOW for the lumber.

64 Mel2 10.20.08 at 2:21 am

Waitaminute. Isn’t that cat staircase part of the Snorgl line from Ikea?

65 scooterpants 10.20.08 at 2:30 am

cripes. i thought i had euff cat hair in my house, this opens up whole new world of locations for hair hair hair, but i’m sure they can afford a maid… with a vac with long extens-eeons.
iz very purty. but not very praKeeekal.

66 Yitzysmommie 10.20.08 at 3:01 am

Srsly cool place.
I wish I could live as neatly as those people do. Sadly, I’m like Pigpen from “Peanuts”…clutter follows me everywhere.

67 Raemie L. 10.20.08 at 3:02 am

I looove the house itself and its specialized “cat’s living spaces”. I’d also want human-sized ceiling beam and window-side walkways and cozy nooks. :D

68 Kimski 10.20.08 at 3:18 am

All those walkways had ornaments on them once.

69 Saski 10.20.08 at 12:49 pm
70 Kar 10.20.08 at 1:39 pm

I’m more interested in the two little black kittens.

What’s the import price these days?

71 Kris 10.20.08 at 1:50 pm

This is neat. The dog house one is pretty cool! I love the built in gates and the dog house in the wall – my older dog would looooove that. He loves a nice den. We had half doors made on the house we just moved from. Very good for keeping things in or out but not restricting air flow.
I can NOT imagine the amount of cleaning that house would need!!!

72 Babs 10.20.08 at 2:07 pm

Yeah, this would be totally wasted on my slavedrivers. There is no place they’d rather be than right in front of my feet.

73 WePurr 10.20.08 at 2:53 pm

We Purr when we see something like that. :)

74 Spikely 10.20.08 at 6:10 pm

Off-topic a bit: this looks like the biggest house in all Japan!!

75 riolinda 10.20.08 at 9:34 pm

I want this house .. but then I would never be able to find my kitties again.

76 Hepper 10.21.08 at 6:06 pm

So cool! I also saw this last week on http://www.mycatgoma.com. I think they translated everything to english (the owner is Japanese)
check it: http://mycatgoma.com/2008/10/house-designed-for-cats-ultimate-kitteh.html

77 Annika 10.22.08 at 1:31 pm

WANT. Even though it may very well mean cat fur RAINING DOWN FROM THE SKY.

[When you have parties, avoid the feline cocktail garnish phenomenon (eww) with those little paper umbrellas. A practical use at last! - Ed.]

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