
Boundless creativity at Eki and Marita’s island retreat: driftwood pergola edges, fishing-net decor, and more
Sauna sessions, boating, and ceramic design! Marita and Eki’s paradise on Selkäsaari island in the Bothnian Bay invites them to savor the maritime atmosphere and pursue their favorite hobbies.

The midsummer sun blazes down from a cloudless sky above the Bothnian Bay. Waves gently lap the shore, where grasses sway in the breeze. We’re in Kemi’s outer archipelago on Selkäsaari Island, which has welcomed summer visitors for decades to enjoy the southwestern Lapland sea air.
In the past, Selkäsaari was known as a summer paradise for wealthy residents of Kemi. Marita Kumpulainen and Eki Nikkanen’s current cottage lot also once housed the local pharmacist’s summer cabin.
“The island also has a dark past. In 1918, it was used as an execution site for the Reds after the Finnish Civil War,” Eki says.


Us: Marita Kumpulainen, 63, and Eki Nikkanen, 69, plus their smooth-haired dachshund Muru. Marita works as a dental hygienist, and Eki is a retired pharmaceutical salesman.
Cottage: Started in 2013, the Villa Merelle complex includes the main cottage, a kitchen cottage, a guest cabin, a sauna, a smoke sauna, a pergola serving as a summer kitchen, and an outhouse.
Where: On Selkäsaari in the Bothnian Bay, just off Kemi.


A five-kilometer (3.1-mile) long and one-kilometer (0.6-mile) wide island is home to around seventy summer cottages, thoughtfully arranged in three rows stretching from the shore toward the island’s center.
“Unfortunately, some of the older cottages have stood empty for years, without summer residents,” Eki says.
Marita and Eki, along with their family, have been retreating on Selkäsaari since 2012. The cottage gets plenty of use, as they visit year-round. Their adult children and families sometimes join them, and the atmosphere buzzes with activity when the grandchildren, ages 7 to 19, come by.
“Friends visit us from Kemi and farther afield, both for the day and overnight. We also enjoy spending summer evenings with our close neighbors,” Eki says.


Getting to the cottage couldn’t be easier, according to Marita and Eki. They live right by the marina in Kemi, and the boat ride to the cottage takes only ten minutes in summer. In winter, the journey is slightly longer on foot or by snowmobile.
Eki finds the cottage a refreshing contrast to apartment living during the winter months.
“There’s always something to do, and the daily tasks require time in a different way than they do in the city. We live a fairly minimal life here, with fewer modern comforts.”
There’s also plenty going on, thanks to the active Selkäsaari Association, which hosts summer events and brings cottage owners together. Marita says that each summer they celebrate a Selkäsaari Day and hold a fishing competition.
“Inspired by that, Eki and I took up fishing as a shared hobby.”



“The truth is, we mostly putter around each doing our own thing.”Eki
The couple’s days revolve around heating the sauna, making firewood, and other cottage chores.
“The truth is, we mostly putter around each doing our own thing. Marita decorates and cooks, while I thin the forest,” Eki says with a laugh.
“We do split firewood together using the log splitter, and we sauna-bathe and fish together.”
For Marita, the cottage is not just a relaxing break from work but also a place to plan her ceramic projects, which she creates during winter at the adult education center. Many functional and decorative pieces here have been shaped by her skillful hands, from cups and plates to serving dishes.
“I decorate the cottage and garden with ceramics I make. In the summer, I plan what I’ll craft the following winter. It’s a hobby that means a lot to me.”
Because of her talent for crafts, the yard is filled with unique items. You’ll find a bird water basin and a holder for mosquito coils in the garden, and on the sauna’s rocks, ceramic hedgehogs and water lilies meant for adding sauna scents.




The cottage setting has evolved over time. First, in 2012, the couple built Villa Piccolo to have a place to spend the night, and it now serves as a guest cabin. The next year, they built the main cottage, followed by the kitchen cottage.
“We wanted a separate kitchen so cooking wouldn’t happen in the same building where we sleep. If there are many people at the cottage, you can make your morning coffee whenever you like,” Marita explains.
Practical convenience is enhanced by the kitchen cottage’s spacious terrace, accessible through double doors. There’s room for a large dining table, and the stove and fridge run on gas. The kitchen cottage is usable year-round, kept warm by a radiant heater in winter. Electricity is supplied by a windmill and two solar panels on the main cottage’s roof.
“That gives us enough electricity for lights, the TV, and charging our phones,” Eki says.
You can also cook and wash dishes in the pergola built by the shore in 2018. Because the wind can be strong coming off the sea, glass and plexiglass were installed later as wind protection.
“We covered the pergola in driftwood we found on Laitakari Island, using those beach treasures to decorate the interior, too,” Eki notes.




The sea plays a huge role in their cottage life overall. Out here, the sun and wind feel different than they do on the mainland, and a thunderstorm or gale can arrive swiftly. The water level also changes dramatically on the island.
“When the water rises and falls, the shoreline can shift by up to 3 meters (9.8’),” Eki notes.
He was previously involved in the Kemi Sea Rescue Association and hopes to spend more time boating soon.
“We’ll have fewer projects in the future, so we’ll have time to head over to nearby Pensaskari or Sansker on the Swedish side.”
The couple has come to know Selkäsaari’s natural wonders in detail, especially Marita, who enjoys foraging for berries and mushrooms. Everything that matters most to them—forest, water, and sauna—is just steps away here.
“And nothing beats a night’s sleep in a log cabin,” Eki says with a smile.



