A charming impulse buy—Netta and Pauli fell for a 24-square-meter cottage that keeps them coming back longer every year
Ever since her early twenties, Netta Koskela has dreamed of owning her own cottage. The small cabin, purchased on impulse in the heart of Pernaja’s church village, provides a delightful counterbalance to city life.
“The dream of owning my own summer cottage formed gradually when I turned twenty, not long after I moved out on my own. At first, it was just a small joke, but it grew into a true longing for a place I could renovate at my own pace, where I could tend a garden and grill to my heart’s content on summer evenings with friends—things I couldn’t do in our downtown Helsinki home.”
In the summer of 2016, my partner and I came across an adorable 24-square-meter cottage online. The roughly 90-year-old, pale green house sat on a dry-land lot in the middle of Pernaja’s church village in Loviisa and badly needed renovation, but it had a wonderfully lush garden and came with a boat slip near the seashore.
Because the cottage was in poor shape, its price was quite low, so out of sheer curiosity, we went to see it. Even though we quickly realized there would be plenty of work—and there wasn’t even a place to wash up on the property—we both agreed we had found “the one.” So we ended up buying the very first cottage we ever looked at.
The sun-drenched, lush garden and its old plantings won us over right away, and we could already imagine how charming the little wooden house would be once renovated.
What truly sealed the deal was the cottage’s excellent location. We didn’t want a secluded cabin in the woods, and we fell in love with this spot in the middle of the village. Pernaja turned out to be idyllic, active, and culturally significant, with a short drive to all the services in Loviisa.
“So we ended up buying the very first cottage we ever went to see.”
Five summers ago in July, we suddenly became cottage owners at ages 26 and 27. Our friends were a bit surprised to see us rushing off to renovate each weekend while they traveled the world. But we were thrilled with our own little slice of paradise!
My partner and I both grew up in single-family homes, and we’d missed the upkeep that goes with them. I had also been craving the chance to get back into gardening and yard work. We both spend our days at office jobs, so cottage projects and yard chores offer a great way to counterbalance all that computer time.
Right after signing the papers, we grabbed a hammer, saw, and paintbrush. We had some basic renovation experience, but we ended up learning a lot along the way.
Luckily, there’s plenty of information online, and you learn by doing, as long as you stay open-minded. During the project, we grew interested in traditional building methods, and it became important to us to honor the cottage’s 90-year-old character at every stage of the renovation.
We’ve renovated at our own pace, focusing on one project at a time. Inside, nearly everything has been redone from floor to ceiling with traditional materials. We’ve reused many original items that came with the cottage and found matching pieces at flea markets and Pernaja’s summer auctions.
We’ve especially fallen for Arabia dishware and vintage glass. These older items have their own stories, and many carry a lovely patina and distinctive character.
A cottage isn’t complete without a sauna, so we built one in an old storage building. Our 100-year-old storage shed had partially sunk into the ground, was crooked, and had a badly sagging roof. We used jacks to lift and straighten the structure and installed a proper ventilated foundation to prevent future damage. Since the building didn’t have a chimney, we added a lightweight flue for the wood-burning stove.
“Year after year, our cottage season has stretched out longer and longer—last time we didn’t close up until the end of December.”
After a year of hard work, the storage building was transformed into a wonderfully atmospheric old-fashioned wood-burning sauna, complete with traditional plank flooring and wide benches.
This past Midsummer, after all that effort, we finally got to enjoy our first sauna session. Since then, we’ve fired it up every time we visit. Even our dog Frida seems to love it and happily lounges on the top bench for the entire sauna experience.
While we renovated, I also tended our enchanting garden. From the start, it featured many lovely old plants, including perennials, fruit trees, berry bushes, and a variety of edible crops.
We’ve started a strawberry patch, planted extra berry bushes, and tried growing new edible crops. The harvests have been so plentiful that our friends have been more than happy to take some off our hands.
I’ve especially fallen in love with perennials and other flowers. Every year, we add our personal favorites to the older plantings—bright tulips, dramatic lilies, gorgeous peonies, and later-blooming hydrangeas. Just like inside the cottage, we like a layered look in the garden, keeping the old while adding new things that match our style.
In the garden, as in the cottage, layers are welcome—old and new, all our own.
We do have a modern helper for yard work: a robotic lawnmower that keeps the grass neatly trimmed at all times.
Our summer cottage is definitely the most unusual and best “impulse buy” we’ve ever made. It has brought so much joy and many happy moments to our lives.
We’re completely hooked on cottage life, and each year we stay a little longer—last time, we didn’t close up until late December.
I’ve written a lot about cottage life on my Destination: Happiness blog and found many others who love cottages and traditional building as much as I do. Sometimes readers ask for gardening or renovation tips, and I try to help as best I can, though I’m no expert.
In the coming cottage seasons, we hope to spend more time relaxing instead of just renovating. Most of the biggest, most urgent tasks are behind us, so we can finally savor the sauna, unwind, and enjoy the best parts of cottage life.
So far, we haven’t used the boat slip that came with the property because we’ve been so busy renovating, but we’d love to get a small boat one day and spend our summer days out on Pernaja Bay. We also have plenty of yard games stored away, and we’re looking forward to playing them more with friends while the grill and sauna heat up.”
