Hakone Garden Upper House (Moon Viewing Room)

Oliver and Isabel Stein purchased 18 acres (approximately 73,000 square meters) of land to build a summer home.

Impressed by the exhibits at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915, Isabel visited Japan that same year. During her stay in Japan, she was so moved by the beauty of Hakone that she decided to create a Japanese garden modeled after it on the grounds of her own home.

She invited landscape gardeners and architects from Japan to design the garden as well as several buildings, including the Upper House for moon-viewing.

The Lower House was completed in 1922, and many other buildings were added by the Steins and subsequent owners.