The view made them sigh in awe—Ilkka and Patrik’s row house retreat in Alvar Aalto’s Sunila

The best moment of the week is here: Patrik Saarikoski has closed the door to his dental office and the bank employee Ilkka Häyrinen has shut down his computer. The car is packed for the weekend, and they can begin their drive from their home in Helsinki’s Kallio neighborhood to their holiday getaway in Sunila, Kotka.

In November 2022, when Ilkka and Patrik first stepped into the living room of the Rantala row house, they let out a deep sigh. Through the large windows, they saw a wide yard stretching to the seashore.

The previous residents had lived in this five-unit row-house complex, originally built for Sunila Mill’s engineers, for 38 years. The 220-square-meter, two-story home had been quietly listed, and in May 2023, the couple received the keys.

Patrik Saarikoski (left) and Ilkka Häyrinen have settled into Sunila and opened their home to architecture enthusiasts during the Aalto Homes event.

The living room’s ceiling beams resemble those in the Sunila factory designed by Alvar Aalto. The ceiling light is by Lisa Johansson-Pape. Alvar Aalto designed the Tankki chairs in 1936, one year before Rantala was completed. The richly blue chair is Eero Saarinen’s Womb Chair.

the holiday home in Kotka is the first place Ilkka and Patrik have renovated and furnished together.

“We’ve learned a lot about each other’s decorating style,” Ilkka says.

During renovations, they decided to keep the home’s original layout and make moderate updates. The walls and ceilings were painted, and linoleum floors were installed in the upstairs bedrooms. They stripped the paint from the brass ventilation ducts in the windows and restored the original cabinets in the downstairs maid’s corridor.

The bathroom and restrooms only needed minor touch-ups. They wanted to keep the original flush-mounted wall tiles in the restrooms, so they avoided major renovations there. The open fireplace, added during a 1960s renovation by architect Bertel Gripenberg, was still usable as is.

“We were unsure about the moss-green carpet in the upstairs landing, but we decided to keep it,” Patrik says.

The ceiling light by Lisa Johansson-Pape was originally designed for a pharmacy in Parkano. The Alvar Aalto 112B shelves are stained walnut, matching the Tankki chairs’ armrests. The Adea Band sofa is accented with Klaus Haapaniemi’s Psychotria Elata velvet pillows. The 1960s exhibition poster was found in a Facebook group.

Ilkka and Patrik spend autumn and winter evenings by the fireplace, relaxing in the Tankki chairs. The fireplace was built in the 1960s during a renovation designed by architect Bertel Gripenberg.

The Pro Sunila association held the Aalto Homes event in August 2023, inviting the public to see area homes. Ilkka and Patrik decided to open their doors, which motivated them to complete the renovation on schedule.

Interior designer Erika Jokelainen from Artek came by to help plan interior solutions.

“She dared to suggest bolder ideas than we would have ourselves. For instance, she recommended painting the top portion of the upstairs landing wall in a vivid color,” Patrik says.

Although Ilkka and Patrik value Alvar Aalto’s work, they didn’t want to turn Rantala into an Aalto museum. They chose both new and secondhand designer pieces by various makers that blend together. They also gave a place of honor to furniture and art inherited from their grandparents.

“The desk in the study was once in my grandmother’s kitchen, where we ate our Christmas dinners,” Ilkka recalls.

Ilkka does his remote work at the table he inherited from his grandmother. He purchased the Artek chest of drawers secondhand. The wall clock is by George Nelson, and the Petäjä vase is by Kaj Blomqvist.

The headboard designed by Tom Dixon is from Ikea. The reddish-brown curtains connect both the guest room and the study to the landing. The wall lights by Jonas Hidle were manufactured by Høvik Lys in the 1970s.

Patrik and Ilkka admit they are Aalto fans. They have toured Finland to see buildings designed by Aalto.

“When you look at Sunila’s buildings now, you might not realize how modern Aalto’s designs were in the 1930s,” Patrik observes.

Ilkka and Patrik appreciate the human scale, closeness to nature, and careful use of light in Aalto’s architecture.

“In Aalto’s buildings, you get the sense they were truly designed for people,” Ilkka says.

Alvar Aalto’s H92 oak table and 611 chairs with saddle-strap seats were found secondhand in Turku. The Isamu Noguchi Akari 15A lamp is made of rice paper. The wine-red Bitossi Rimini Blu ceramics are by Aldo Londi. The wall color is Cover Story 030 Virginia.

The painting by Armas Vainio above the Habitat Kargo sideboard was inherited from Patrik’s grandparents. The Bau wall lamp was designed by Klaus Michalik for Orno. Neal Small created the table lamp for Koch & Lowy, and it was purchased in the United States in the 1980s.

Built between 1936 and 1954, the Sunila pulp mill and its mostly row houses and apartment buildings form the largest complex realized according to Aalto’s original plans. As a tribute to his work, the government has proposed thirteen of Aalto’s sites—Sunila among them—to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Ilkka and Patrik came upon Sunila by chance in 2021, when they visited an art exhibition.

“We fell in love with the area immediately. I was already searching online for places as we drove home,” Patrik recalls. Their quest for a larger apartment in Helsinki gave way to the idea of a second home in Sunila.

In the staircase leading upstairs, wall lights by Yki Nummi illuminate the way. The painting by Anja Tähtinen shows the Sunila factory.

The upstairs landing is Patrik’s favorite space. The upper part of the wall is painted in Tikkurila’s M476 Rooibos, inspired by the Barcelona daybed. The Aalto 401 armchair is a comfortable spot to read magazines.

Now that the renovations are finished they can finally do what they came here for: relax and spend time with friends.

They’ve already hosted a wine tasting and had friends stay overnight. They’ve gotten to know the neighbors, celebrated Midsummer, enjoyed Christmas glögi, and gone boating on the hundred-year-old Meriset Mercury salon boat. Mercury originally belonged to Sunila’s first mill director Lauri Kanto and served as his official boat.

They plan to devote more time to the garden in coming summers. They want to expand and light the terrace and build planter boxes for edible plants. Their herb patch is still small, but it shows promise.

“We’re self-sufficient in lovage,” Patrik jokes, adding that they use it to make pesto.

Ilkka and Patrik found just what they wanted in Rantala: extra space alongside their city apartment and a yard of their own. From the terrace and the seaside fire pit, they admire the Sunila mill’s nighttime lights reflecting on the water and wave at the chimney rising above the pines.

More information about Sunila: alvaraaltosunila.fi.

The wallpaper in the bedroom is Casamance’s Kira. The Ikea Tufjord bed forms a cozy nest. The 9205 light is by Paavo Tynell, and the painting is by Kaija Snellman-Wasenius.

The built-in 1960s bookshelf in the guest room has a wedding rya Patrik received from his dental nurse. The floor lamp was handcrafted by a metalworker in Teuva.

The coat rack in the entryway is from the 1960s. The interior designer suggested framing it with brown velvet curtains. The entry table was inherited from Ilkka’s grandmother.

The original lower cabinets in the serving corridor were painted with Tikkurila’s N417 Morelli carmine red.

Bird and floral patterns on the rug lead to the door at the end of the serving corridor, which opens to the yard.

With the renovation completed, Ilkka and Patrik have more time to enjoy their home. They’re planning to install an outdoor hot tub in the garden.

The red brick chimney of the Sunila mill peeks through similarly hued pines and deciduous trees.

The row house in Sunila, Kotka, covers 220 square meters.