The villa was constructed by Emperor Meiji in July 1893 and was a favorite residence of his son, Crown Prince Yoshihito, the future Emperor Taishō. The building was a single-story wooden structure with an area of 1200 square meters. The grounds covered 104,402 square meters, and it was located facing Suruga Bay adjacent to the Senbon-Matsubara, a scenic pine grove. The villa also had views of Mount Fuji to the north-north west. In the neighborhood were the villas of a number of important political figures of the times, including that of Oyama Iwao, Saigō Jūdō and Ōki Takatō.