Post #808898 by Prikli Pear on Wed, Apr 26, 2023 11:38 AM

That looks like a nice get at that price. Here's hoping everything works out for you! Regarding indoor space, you might consider biting the bullet and settling for a three bedroom--with one of the small rooms reserved for a tiny indoor tiki space--than moving forward with the two bedroom plan. After five years of the Lagoon being mothballed for even our mild winters here in Central Texas, we've been slowly building out an indoor space. The Lagoon's always going to be our primary tiki entertainment area, but we needed an enclosed, climate controlled area as well, if only for the more valuable art pieces that would not fare well in the elements.

An alternative thought--BossaNova Life on YouTube has a series called "Secret Tiki Escapes" and several home bars featured have done their main living area or even kitchen in tiki theme. They're crazy impressive. That approach might not work for you, but it's worth consideration. The good thing is that this will be YOUR home and you can do what you want with it rather than worrying about the landlord's reactions.

From what I can see in the photos you're not going to need a lot of advice in the way of landscaping. Having mature palm trees is a great head start, although maintenance on them can be tiresome (most are not self-pruning). The basjoo banana is a cold hardy ornamental native to Japan. Even if it freezes to the ground it'll rebound in the spring. Caerulea passion flower is a cold-hardy tropical that should do well for you (again, if it freezes--which is rare--it'll come back from the roots). Hibiscus syriacus is a deciduous shrub with gorgeous hibiscus flowers and is very cold tolerant (national flower of Korea). So-called hardy hibiscus are North American natives (hybrids of h. coccinea and h. moscheutos) die to the ground every winter and regrow rapidly in the spring. Exceptionally large, showy flowers although the stalks can be rangy. Various canna hybrids offer tropical-looking foliage as well. I don't have a clue how available any of those suggestions are in Japan (basjoo should be common, but who knows?) but at least it's a starting point. Let me know if you need any additional suggestions.