A variation of the *shoin 書院 residence; a mansion or a country house for the aristocracy or samurai 侍 after the beginning of the Edo period. Representative examples include: Katsura Rikyū 桂離宮 (mid-17th century); Manshuin Koshoin 曼珠院小書院 (mid-17th century); and Nishihonganji Kuroshoin 西本願寺黒書院 (late 16th century), all in Kyoto.
Common features of the above examples are the freedom to make the architectural design based on the decorative alcove *tokonoma 床の間 and shelf *tana 棚 of the shoin system and to use not only Japanese cypress but also Japanese cedar, pine, hemlock and bamboo. Sukiya-zukuri also featured many logs and bark surfaces menkawa 面皮. Visible timbers were colored greyish-black in some early sukiya buildings, but later most timbers were left unpainted with a natural surface. Earthen walls were muted in color, and slopes of roofs were cambered.
The above-mentioned characteristics suggest that sukiya-zukuri is related to the tea ceremony house *chashitsu 茶室. However, the freedom recognized in sukiya-zukuri also extends to the ornamentation of shelves *tana 棚 and friezes *ranma 欄間, which used irregular shapes, and to the innovative forms of metallic ornaments like nail covers *kugikakushi 釘隠 and door catches *hikite 引き手 on sliding doors fusuma shōji 襖障子.
Special importance was given to the shelves: the wall surrounding them was often only covered with paper, but earthen walls were common too. Shelves themselves, as well as the doors on closets and closed shelves *fukurodana 袋棚 were made of rare imported timbers, with metallic ornaments, delicate carvings and openwork. The splendid effect was quite opposite to the tea ceremony house in which concentration on one point is important. Therefore it is obvious that sukiya-zukuri was not only influenced by tea ceremony architecture, but developed in a spirit of free diversion interacting with the imperial court in the 17th century.