
A historic residence of late U.S. architect Jay H Morgan in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, has been almost completely destroyed by fire in a suspected case of arson Wednesday morning, the police said. Since the house has been uninhabited, no one was injured. But the fire gutted the house and an adjacent building, totaling 225 square meters, they said. The two-story wooden house was under preservation work after having been largely damaged by a fire, also suspected to have been arson, in May last year (pictured). Morgan was a prominent architect who came to Japan in 1920 to help design the now-demolished former Marunouchi Building near East Japan Railway's Tokyo Station and other well known buildings. He lived in Japan until he died in 1937 at age 63. He built the chic western-style Fujisawa residence known for its orange roof tiles as his home in 1931. Police said a neighbor of the house alerted the local fire department at around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Make your own paper model of the old Morgan House (PDF)