A Christmas car, 200 glass ornaments, and mom’s Christmas tree! This log home delights even passers-by
The Miinin family’s home shines on the edge of an Iron Age field in a century-old house in Tampere, Finland. As Christmas nears, its warmth welcomes friends, neighbors, passers-by, and those waiting for the bus.
A few summers ago,the Miinins moved nearly 200 kilometers (124 mi) from their workplaces and all that was familiar to them. They settled at the Vuohensilta estate in a mansard-roofed house that once housed four different families. Since then, the place has been gradually renovated and decorated according to both need and inspiration. Like anywhere else, they’re simply passing through—a single link in the house’s long chain of residents.
Every December, as the holiday season begins, the Miinins throw a grand Christmas party for friends and neighbors. Elisa says she feels no stress about Christmas itself, but she does fret over the party.
The Miinins’ log house, built in 1925 for four families, has eight rooms plus a kitchen, totaling 200 square meters (2,150 sq ft). Follow Elisa on social media: @elisa_ihmemaassa.
“The tile color complements the green tiled stove in the dining area,” Elisa says. She ordered the kitchen’s bar handles from Helakauppa. The wallpaper is Global Fusion Tropical, and the hyacinth vases are from Granit. Elisa’s wool socks were a Christmas present from her mother.
“We’re simply passing through here—just one link in the house’s long chain of residents.”
The pendant lamp is Artek’s Beehive, the tablecloth is from Marimekko, the glass bottle came from an auction, and the Viennese chairs are from Ikea—no one remembers where the spindle-back chairs are from. The floor lamp is on loan from friends who relocated to Switzerland, and it was made by Marset.
Elisa can spend hours decorating a cake. This mulled wine cheesecake from the grocery store is topped with white chocolate, figs, passion fruit, and goldenberries. The Pauliina dishware by Arabia was gifted to Elisa by her stepmother.
What’s so captivating about an old house?
Elisa: The thought of this house’s history calms me and keeps me grounded in the present. It has existed for ages and will remain long after I’m gone. I want to treat it kindly. When we eventually move on, we’ll leave it in even better condition for the next residents.
Harri: I’m interested not just in the house’s past, but also in the local area’s history. I feel a sense of belonging when I understand how this place developed over time. I was thrilled to learn there was once an Iron Age burial ground and field right here.
Elisa: It feels comforting to know that people have lived here for thousands of years.
How did you summon the courage to uproot your family, including kids in elementary school, and move somewhere new?
Elisa: You can still make bold decisions when you have children. We prepared them thoroughly for the city switch and involved them in both planning and decision-making. They’ve been happy about the move, even though they had great friends and schools in our old Helsinki neighborhood.
Harri: I’ve driven the kids back to Helsinki to see old friends, and those friends have come here to visit us. Of course, they’ve already made new friends here. Social connections evolve naturally, and some bonds simply fade over time.
Why did you settle on this particular home?
Elisa: Harri would probably say it’s because the house has a mansard roof—he’s always dreamed of living in a house with one. Tampere had been calling to us for some time. We have friends here and really like the city. In Helsinki, square meters are pricey, but here we could afford more space while keeping the perks of a big city. Also, one set of grandparents is now closer.
Harri: When we decided to buy, we figured we wouldn’t need to renovate anything. The surfaces were in decent shape. But we’ve still ended up doing quite a bit.
Elisa: And I could still fill a kilometer-long list of what needs to be done!
Elisa has about two hundred glass Christmas ornaments. In November, the entire family dresses up in their fancy city clothes and goes ornament shopping. Each boy gets to choose one new glass ornament. The paper star and lace curtains are from Ikea.
Elisa persuaded a colleague to bring the Sandman ornament from Germany. “I don’t dare hang it in the tree where the cats could knock it down, so it stays safely in a box,” she says, laughing. The largest ornament in the photo was hung in the tree, but after the photoshoot, someone shot it down with a Nerf gun, and it broke.
They set up their Christmas tree as early as the start of December. “At the house showing, I already mentioned this corner would be ideal for a Christmas tree,” Harri recalls. “The living-room tree is Mom’s tree, and only Mom touches it. The kids have their own tree upstairs,” Elisa clarifies.
In the living room window hangs Harri and Elisa’s first shared Christmas ornament, bought during their student years for Christmas at Stockmann. The display cabinet came with the house, the table is from Tokmanni, and the rug is from Ikea. The pendant lamp from Karhula Glassworks came with their previous apartment.
What’s the best thing you’ve given the house?
Elisa and Harri: The radiators.
Elisa: Twenty years ago, when we moved into our first place together, Harri—whose grandfather and father are plumbers—was unbelievably excited about the 1920s radiators. It took me a bit longer to appreciate them.
Harri: These radiators are new, custom-made for us, but they have a vintage look. They’re from Paladin in England, and we ordered them through an Estonian company, Radiaatori Keskus. We paid maybe a quarter of what they would have cost in Finland. The only real challenge was their weight: each weighs over 100 kilograms (220 lb).
Elisa: We have a video of us lugging that golden radiator upstairs by ourselves. It cracks me up.
What’s your renovation philosophy?
Harri: We do a lot of the work ourselves. Both of us grew up in families where hands-on projects were the norm.
Elisa: It’s neither financially nor environmentally responsible to renovate for the sake of renovating. We want to preserve as much of the old as possible. The kitchen was already partly renovated, so we just finished it, repurposing most of the old cabinets and doors. Since moving in, we’ve let go of many earlier renovation ideas as unnecessary and found new priorities. By the time everything’s done, we may already be on our way to the next place.
In addition to Elisa and Harri, the family includes their children Emil, 12, and Isak, 7, two Bengal cats named Miu and Markku, and a leopard gecko called Albo Disco-Lisko Matolöksy Miinin. The parents’ bedroom was made from an old walk-in closet. Since they couldn’t find a bed frame to fit, Harri built one himself. The pickle onesies serve as a stand-in for bathrobes on cold-water swimming trips. “Elisa and I bought the pickle outfits for ourselves, and the boys got so jealous that Santa had to bring them matching ones,” Harri says.
There used to be two green tiled stoves in the house. The tiles from the demolished one are stored in the shed. The painting is by Eija Väliranta. When Elisa first saw it, she said it reminded her of the Cinque Terre in Italy—turns out, that was exactly the scene Eija had painted. The butterfly chair is from Veke.
The porch is traditionally unheated, and there’s no reason to change that. The wreath hanging in the window was tied by Elisa, the nutcracker is from Jysk, the Design Letters mugs are from Finnish Design Shop, and the large candlesticks are by Aarikka.
Harri’s favorite Christmas flower is the hyacinth. It also works as a cut flower.
The logs have only been exposed in the downstairs foyer. “I thought it’d be odd for a log house not to show any logs at all. Even though this wasn’t a rustic cabin, I like seeing the marks of the hand-hewn beams,” Harri says.
Elisa is convinced the house has a mind of its own. “I’d never have pictured myself choosing that wallpaper, but of course it belongs on the fireplace room wall,” she says. “Often, once we choose new wallpaper and start preparing the walls, we discover something very similar among the older layers,” Harri adds. That wallpaper is William Morris’s Pimpernel, the Swedish antique cabinet is a gift from Elisa’s mother, and the candelabra is Eno Studio’s Multi Candle Pin.
You can see the Miinins’ utility room window from the nearby bus stop. Elisa drew and illuminated a Christmas cityscape there to cheer up anyone waiting in the dark.
The black lantern is from Kukkatalo, and the white one was a Christmas present from Elisa’s father.
“It’s not environmentally responsible to renovate just for the sake of renovating.”
Emil chose a green hue for his room and found the Myriad wallpaper at Seinäruusu. The bed is from Ikea.
Isak wanted the room with the golden bed. It remains exactly where it was shown during the house viewing, and he won’t let anyone move it. You do have to pass through his room to reach the utility room and Emil’s and the parents’ bedrooms, which isn’t very practical at all, but Isak doesn’t mind a bit.
In the upstairs foyer is Elisa’s remote workspace. Harri either works in bed or in the turquoise armchair in the yoga and guest room. The elf sitting on the String shelf’s desktop was stitched by Isak in preschool. The postcards are from Fotografiska, and the gold-colored radiator is by Paladin.
The Miinin family tends to gain a new Bengal cat every Christmas. First came Miu, then Markku, who needed a new home. “We’ve told the kids we’re not getting a cat every Christmas,” Elisa says.
In the work, yoga, and guest room, they chose a koi wallpaper from Seinäruusu in Tampere, Komar’s Flux INX6-087. Removing the old wallpaper revealed several layers of turquoise underneath. The high-backed armchair, purchased at Ikea for their previous home, is one of Miu’s favorite spots. When Markku arrived, Miu initially refused to accept him, but little by little, the hostility turned into friendship, and now they’re best buddies.
“Knowing that people have lived here for thousands of years is comforting.”
On the porch window, Elisa has drawn a Christmas town with a glass marker to bring joy to anyone passing by and made a wooden Christmas calendar. She paints a new number on it every evening.
In November, Elisa begins decorating the summer car for Christmas. Along with the tree, lights, wreath, and packages, you’ll find a mailbox for Santa next to the vehicle.
