The temple is said to have stood on the former site of the mountain villa of FUJIWARA no Sadaie, a court noble during the early Kamakura period, and was restored as a temple during the Edo period by the Reizei family, descendants of the FUJIWARA no Sadaie.
この寺のある場所は鎌倉時代初期の公家藤原定家の山荘跡と伝えられ、江戸時代に入り定家の子孫である公家冷泉家が再興して寺としたのに始まるという。