She was supposed to buy a home in Helsinki, but chose a lakeside cabin: “Why would I wait until I’m older to buy a cabin?”

A sandy road wound through the forest and crossed a small river—a quintessential Finnish cabin road. It was the first thing that charmed Marianna Salminen. “This would be a lovely drive,” she thought on an April afternoon in 2024.

In the yard stood a small round-log cabin, the kind Marianna recalls dreaming about as a child. There was still snow on the ground, but she could already spot the blueberry and lingonberry shrubs beneath it.

“The yard felt like a piece of a national park.”

From the porch, there was a magnificent view of the lake and the lakeside sauna. The real estate agent showed Marianna and her partner each building in turn and explained which parts needed work: the sauna cottage floor was so rotten it might collapse, and the lakeside sauna sat too close to the water’s edge and would need to be moved.

Inside, the 25-square-meter (approx. 269 sq ft) cabin was filled with clothes, decorative objects, dishes, and furniture accumulated over decades. A huge black animal hide of unknown origin hung on the wall. All of it came with the sale, so Marianna had to imagine what lay beneath everything.

The cabin had belonged to an elderly couple, and the wife had inherited it from her parents. Over time, their adult sons took ownership.

“I knew it would be a big job, but the cabin felt so homey. I could already see how I’d make it my own.”

On the drive back, Marianna flipped through the papers from the agent and wondered if she could really buy a cabin at 32. What if there was water damage? Would she know how to renovate?

Marianna’s partner and father encouraged her, pointing out how rare it was to find such a perfect place. If it didn’t work out, she could always sell.

“I made a conditional offer the very next day and booked a loan consultation right away. I was nervous someone else would grab the cabin first.”

A few weeks later, Marianna made her first real estate purchase, and by June the cabin changed hands. Looking at her own house, she realized this was where her heart truly belonged.

A place that met every requirement

Only four years ago, Marianna was planning to buy an apartment in Helsinki. She and her partner were renting an apartment owned by her father, but she figured it was time to follow her friends’ example and purchase something of her own.

Marianna didn’t want a huge loan to afford a downtown apartment, and she wasn’t inspired by options on the outskirts of the city. Staying in the capital mattered because of her loved ones.

“I wanted a place that would truly excite me, but I never found one.”

She started thinking about what kind of place she really wanted: a house in the woods near a lake. She didn’t want to move to a new town entirely, so a cabin felt like a permanent yet more flexible solution than a big mortgage. As a child, Marianna had spent summers at her grandmother’s cabin in Viitasaari, Central Finland.

“A cabin has always been my happy place, where everyday worries and stress fade away.”

She still wondered if it was completely crazy to buy a cabin before buying an apartment, since no one else in her circle had done it.

“I realized I had this funny notion that you only buy a cabin when you’re old.”

In 2023, Marianna started browsing real estate sites more often, setting alerts for a cabin no more than five hours away by car, on a lake, and ideally with electricity already installed.

“My friends were shocked I was looking so far away. But I was used to that distance from driving to Viitasaari. For me, the trip is part of the cabin experience.”

She initially capped her budget at 80,000 euros, but later raised it. By April 2024, she was tired of waiting. Two listings stood out: one near her grandmother’s cabin in Viitasaari, and another an hour away in Pielavesi, Northern Savo.

The second one met all of Marianna’s wishes. In addition to the main cabin and the lakeside sauna, the property had a guest cottage, two sheds, and an outhouse with two small storage rooms. Aside from the outhouse and the sauna floor, everything was in good shape.

For some reason, it hadn’t sold yet, and the price was cut far below what Marianna was prepared to pay. She figured she’d have enough left to fix the sauna floor and move the lakeside sauna.

“You could spend unlimited amounts renovating a cabin. But when the place is so dear to you, it doesn’t feel so bad.”

A mural on the outhouse wall

Marianna spent nearly her entire first summer in Pielavesi.

“I was in a total love bubble with the cabin then,” she says.

She and her father removed the old floor of the sauna building and took down the wall separating it from the main structure. Instead of serving as a sauna, it now functions as a sleeping alcove, and the old changing room was turned into a kitchen.

“I’m trained in industrial design, but I haven’t done much building in recent years. Luckily, my dad offered to help.”

Her partner, friends, and younger sister also pitched in. This summer, Marianna and her sister installed a new kitchen in the cabin.

One of the biggest tasks was sorting through all the belongings. Some furniture, like the farmhouse table, stayed. Marianna took many items to a self-service flea market about an hour away in Kuopio. Some junk and the worn-out hide hanging on the wall went to the landfill.

Still, the cabin is filled with items Marianna hasn’t yet found a place for.

“Inheriting all that stuff was both a challenge and a blessing. It’s fun to see what’s there, but it also takes a lot of energy.”

At the same time, she can picture how the cabin might eventually look. By chance, both the new kitchen and the fireplace ended up white, but she isn’t aiming for an all-white cabin. Marianna wants to bring in color and inject her personality into the space.

“I’m planning to paint a big mural on the outhouse’s outside wall. I want my cabin to be a place that inspires creativity and imagination.”

Between two realities

Owning a cabin has brought new responsibilities, since she handles all the mundane tasks of cabin life herself. She either removes a wasp’s nest or learns to live with buzzing visitors.

“I got used to insects and emptying the outhouse pretty quickly. I’ve never loved washing dishes, but the makeshift dish station I set up on the porch is actually pretty nice.”

Marianna spends a lot of time at the cabin alone with her two dogs, as she works in IT and can do remote work—unlike her partner. Outside of vacations, she’ll sometimes stay there four or five days at a stretch. Returning to the city makes Helsinki feel like a completely different world.

“At home, I love how everything’s so easy and automated—a dishwasher is wonderful. But pretty soon, I start missing the cabin.”

Marianna still lives in her father’s apartment. Splitting her time between the two places is perfect for now, and she’s not planning to buy her own apartment anytime soon.

Her living expenses went up slightly after buying the cabin, but she still has enough left for daily costs and savings. She doesn’t feel she’s had to give anything up to own a cabin, and she doesn’t have to show up strictly to maintain a garden.

“This summer, I spent time in Helsinki, at the cabin, and even went on a surf trip to Portugal. The cabin doesn’t limit me—it adds variety to my life.”

The cabin isn’t a sprint

Buying the cabin taught Marianna to trust her instincts and showed her she doesn’t have to do things the way everyone else does.

She found the constant to-do list stressful, especially during that first summer, when it felt never-ending.

“I wanted to get everything done immediately. I guess I got a bit carried away. My dad and my partner reminded me that the cabin isn’t a sprint and I don’t have to do everything at once.”

This summer, her yard improvement plans got pricey when she wanted a new path, parking area, and a deck all at once.

“I don’t want the cabin to eat up all my income. The idea was a fun DIY project that lets me make it my own.”

Marianna realized it wasn’t the right time to build a deck.

She keeps reminding herself that she didn’t buy the cabin as a work camp; she can simply go there to enjoy it. On those days, she swims in the morning, picks berries to freeze for winter, or just watches the lake. Dinner might be fried potatoes and mushroom-tofu sauce.

Once she’s done for the day, she warms up the lakeside sauna and watches the sunset.