The Art Deco building, completed in 1933, has interiors designed by Henri Rapin and features decorative glass work by René Lalique.

[1] The Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum building was previously the residence of Prince Asaka Yasuhiko and his family from 1933 to 1947.

The prince, who studied at the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in France, and travelled to the United States in 1925, was greatly enamoured of the Art Deco movement.

Although many of the interiors were designed according to plans submitted by Henri Rapin, the main architect of the building itself is credited as Gondo Yukichi of the Works Bureau of the Imperial Household Ministry.

After World War II the building served as the official residence of the Prime Minister (1947–50), and as a State Guest House (1950–74).