Is it inappropriate to visit a Geisha house?

I'm a woman and I love the Geisha culture. What I want to know is it a cultural no-no or will people think I'm weird for visiting such establishments?

I'm afraid you will not be allowed into a Geisha house. It's not a tourist location and it's most likely off-limits to anyone outside the industry.

As the previous poster has said, it is impossible for you to just visit an active ochaya unless you are invited by a patron of the establishment and even then it is not very likely. If you are really interested in the culture and want a glimpse of the flower and willow world then you should plan your visit to coincide with one of the annual dances that each hanamachi hold or one of the matsuri that geisha perform at. There are also other seasonal events that tourists can attend but often these aren't widely publicised. Another way to see a Maiko dance performance is to attend a Gion Corner performance. This is an hour long show featuring various traditional Japanese arts that is put on specifically for tourists: http://www.kyoto-gioncorner.com/global/en.html
You can also visit some former Geisha houses such as Seiun-an in Kyoto https://kyotomachiyastay.com/index.php/en/windows-to-japan-machiya-loc...

Thank you for your suggestions.

Kanazawa has a wonderful Geisha area:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4206.html
I recommend Shima House: it will provide all you wish to know, without the actual presence of or imposition onto the Geisha personally.
We loved it
Enjoy!

I'm a woman and I love the Geisha culture. What I want to know is it a cultural no-no or will people think I'm weird for visiting such establishments?

If you are talking about attending a dinner with a geisha performance (be it at an ochaya, hotel, etc.) then no problem. It wouldn't be considered strange. But it may be hard to book the event, and you may need to go through an agency or guided tour to do so. Also, expect it to be rather expensive as you are essentially booking a high priced dinner together with a professional entertainer.

On the other hand, if you are talking about visiting their actual residences, then no, it is not normal to visit the homes (okiya) of practicing geisha. You can visit some historical Okiya at a few of the geisha districts such as in Kanazawa as fmj mentioned.

On second thought, the preserved houses in the geisha districts tend to be Ochaya. Not really sure where you can see a preserved Okiya.

Normally you need an introduction to visit a geisha house. We arranged it through Sayuki www.sayuki.net. Sayuki works with geisha from all around Tokyo and Japan too, even Kyoto if you want to do it there. You can have a traditional Japanese dinner at a real tea-house and call geisha, usually Sayuki and at least one other geisha according to your budget. Sayuki has hangyoku (maiko) in her own house and we got one of them too!

Do people really travel all the way to Japan to see a 50 year old gaijin dressed up as a geisha?

Do you know the address to the hanafusa okiya