Kobe - Historic Sites?

Hi. I enjoy interesting historic architecture and I'll be in Kobe for a day (probably December 28th), so I definitely want to see the Kitano Ijinkan-gai area. The online reviews I've read are mixed, saying things like "good for taking some photos but definitely overpriced," "most of the houses charge an admission fee of between 300 to 500 yen," and "the bus going there is really really packed."

Does anyone have advice about which buildings to see? Which to skip? Other advice?

December 28th is normal weekday so the places will not be so crowded. You can take city loop bus 660 yen/day. I think the bus will not be so crowded either.

http://www.kctp.co.jp/outline/car/41/

As for the Ijinkan (foreigner's house), they are popular among Japanese since they are not so many in other cities in Japan, but may not be so interesting for foreign tourists. The most popular house is Kazamidori-no-Yakata (the house with weathercock) and you can buy combination ticket with Moegi-no-Yakata (the yellowish-green house), 650 yen. There are so many houses and if you enter every houses, you must pay more than 5000 yen which I think is too much for most tourists.

With the city loop bus you can visit most of the touristic places in Kobe such as Chinatown, port area and the Nunobiki herb garden and you can receive a small discount in each place.

I am a Japanese so I like Kobe, and if you like 150 years old houses (which is certainly considered to be old in Japan but not in some countries), you will enjoy Kitano.