Vacant for 40 years, this house has now got its life back: “Looking at the renovation photos brings tears to my eyes”
Everything had fallen into disrepair, and every surface was covered in mouse droppings. Many would have walked away, but the couple fell for the log walls, the creaky floors, and the smiling windows. Their passion drowned out the faint voice of reason.
Seven summers ago, a couple from Pori, Finland saw a for-sale notice in the Sunday edition of Satakunnan Kansa newspaper for an old fisherman’s cottage. The property measures 1.7 hectares (about 4.2 acres) by the sea in Luvia. In addition to the main cottage, the yard includes a sauna, a barn with a stone foundation, a root cellar, and a storage shed.
Suvi and her husband drove there with hearts pounding. When they arrived, they discovered a wild, knee-high overgrown garden and a dilapidated red cottage.
“It was a warm day. We stood in the yard, surrounded by beauty and calm. Our son was happily blowing dandelion seeds, having the time of his life. Everything felt perfect. ‘Could this be it?’ my husband asked,” Suvi recalls.
The house had remained empty and neglected since the 1970s. It was in dreadful shape both inside and out. A hole gaped in the roof where the chimney stood, and every surface was covered in mouse droppings. Most people would have walked away, but the couple immediately envisioned the cottage in renewed glory.
“Our enthusiasm for saving this old house swept us away, so we made an offer. The deal went through, and the estate of nine siblings came to collect their belongings.”
“You performed an act of cultural preservation by saving this house”
The property, called Rantapuisto, and its cottage were part of Heinilä Manor in Luvia until the 1920s, when Juho Anttila and his wife Anna Forsten bought the land as their own. Juho and Anna supported their family of eleven with a few cows and chickens, small-scale farming, fishing, and mink breeding. During the autonomy era, tenants lived in the main room, including a Russian officer.
After she was widowed, Anna lived in the house until the late 1960s and spent summers there even after that. By the 1980s, life at Rantapuisto had dwindled away.
Built in the late 1800s, the property is protected by the Finnish Heritage Agency. The fact that the cottage remains in its original state at all is thanks to Juho and Anna’s son Väinö, who actively applied for its protection.
“We had no experience restoring old houses, but we had renovated homes before. What drove us most was the desire to rescue the house, give it a new life, and make it part of our family’s history,” the couple says.
They both wanted to treat the house with respect and preserve its original rustic charm. To achieve that, they were ready to learn and investigate the best construction methods.
“The Finnish Heritage Agency researcher Liisa Nummelin and building conservator Kalle Virtanen plus Luvia’s building inspector Merja Välimäki were there for us throughout the process. We were moved when the inspector said, ‘You performed an act of cultural preservation by saving this house.’
The kitchen was nearly destined for the Midsummer bonfire
The first autumn was spent getting acquainted with the house, cleaning, and clearing it out. They had to map out a plan, hire construction workers, and consult experts. The initial step was storing the furniture and other items. The couple took all the kitchen utensils home to wash and then packed them away for later use.
The real renovation began with repairing the leaking roof near the chimney. At the same time, the old wooden shingles were replaced with felt. A suction truck cleared debris from the cottage attic and the sauna cottage loft while the kitchen ceiling was opened to replace the rotted ridge beam.
Within the first two years, far more progress was made than the owners had dared hope. Every ceiling and log wall was scrubbed and brushed with washing soda.
They insisted on preserving the cottage’s authentic look, keeping anything they could. They sanded the floors and replaced just a few planks. At the same time, they checked that the original dry fill and moss beneath the flooring were still in good condition. The windows were refurbished, reinstalled, and sealed with flax tow.
Dating back to the cottage’s earliest days, the original kitchen had layers upon layers of paint and almost ended up on the Midsummer bonfire. Thankfully, her husband spotted its beauty and became eager to restore it. They dismantled the kitchen, sanding and cleaning each part, then painted it white and reassembled it roughly in its original layout.
The worst surprise was finding that carpenter ants had ruined the porch, forcing them to tear it down completely. The workers then checked all other structures. Luckily, the damage only affected the porch.
“We had some tense moments right after we finished installing new roofs on the buildings. A storm raged on Boxing Day, blowing down six large spruces in the yard. We were fortunate none landed on the buildings,” Suvi remembers.
“Looking at the renovation photos brings tears to my eyes”
Over the course of the six-year rescue project, the couple employed many local professionals and construction experts, joining in whenever they could. They also organized multiple volunteer work parties during the summers.
“Without our families and friends, there’s no way we could have tackled such a massive job. The renovation was so exhausting that even looking at the photos brings tears to my eyes. We’d forget some phases entirely if not for the pictures and our journal.”
Their Luvia cottage was already usable by summer 2013, but the project fully wrapped up in summer 2016, just in time for Suvi’s 40th birthday.
Now that the rescue project is done, the Luvia cottage is the family’s most treasured place. Here, they can relax together: heating the sauna, swimming, splitting firewood, reading newspapers, fishing. Life moves at a slower pace at the cottage—making coffee on the wood-burning stove takes time, but that extra effort turns each cup into a small celebration.
The family soon discovered that living in an old house means accepting its original residents—mice—who refuse to leave for good. They return each autumn when the weather cools, no matter how often they’re chased out. That’s why the house must be emptied of all textiles and belongings for the winter.
One summer, they invited Juho and Anna’s now-retired heirs—previous owners of the property—to spend the day. It was one of the cottage’s proudest moments.
All nine siblings were thrilled to be asked and touched to see their beloved grandmother’s cottage shining again. Together, they ate, enjoyed the sauna, laughed, reminisced, and shared old stories. Everyone agreed the sauna delivers amazingly good steam—perhaps the best in Luvia.
And so, the circle was complete.
