New life for a Finnish villa: great-grandfather’s rocking chair and a stately oven take center stage

As vacation season approaches, the idyllic villa bustles with life. Gey Ahlroos finishes the trim work in the entryway, and his spouse Ann-Marie arranges flowers she gathered from the yard into a vase. The beds have been made with fresh linens, and coffee is brewing on the stove. Everything is nearly ready, as the children and their families are about to arrive at their childhood home to enjoy relaxing summer days. The Ostrobothnian house was also Gey Ahlroos’s childhood home.

Today, this grand house serves as a vacation getaway and gathering place for the next generation. The siblings stay there when they visit their parents, often bringing friends along. For a while, the building stood empty after Ann-Marie and Gey built a new home on the property in the 1980s and the grandparents passed away.

Among the siblings, Sandra and Tomas now live in Kuopio, while Sebastian lives in Heinävesi.

Originally, the building was painted beige. The ornate porch was later added by Sandra’s great-grandfather, Frans Ahlroos.

The living area is a favorite spot for Sandra, Ann-Marie and Gey because it offers lovely views both outside and into the other downstairs rooms. The veneer dining set dates back to the 1950s, and the wallpaper is from Rusta’s Boutique collection.

One corner of the living area is dominated by a traditional Ostrobothnian-style oven. Sandra’s grandma once baked bread in it, but now it mainly serves as a decorative and atmospheric feature. On winter evenings, candles are lit in the oven’s firebox. The rocking chair was crafted by Sandra’s great-grandfather Frans.

When the house was left empty, the family soon realized it would deteriorate without upkeep. Gey began restoring the building bit by bit, and now that he is retired, renovation has become his hobby. Ann-Marie, in turn, loves interior decorating.

Gey started by painting the metal roof and renewing the exterior siding. At the same time, the windows were replaced, and their wooden embellishments were restored. Inside, he replaced the downstairs plank floors and painted them light gray. The upstairs floors only needed a refreshed coat of paint. The rooms were given new wallpaper, and the electrical system and lighting were updated.

“There’s always plenty to do in an old house, and we children help wherever we can. Sometimes, relatives even come from Sweden to lend a hand. Luckily, we have a large and close-knit family! The list of upcoming renovation projects is endless: the kitchen, bathroom, toilet, terrace, attic, porch, and the old lakeside sauna are just for starters,” Sandra says.

The siblings visit Ostrobothnia throughout the year and try to schedule their trips at the same time whenever possible. They won’t compromise on Christmas, always returning to their childhood home, at least for a while.

“Nowhere else do I find quite the same Christmas spirit as I do here,” Sandra says.

From the balcony, there’s a view of Lake Isojärvi. It’s about 200 meters (about 656 ft) to the shore. Sandra and her parents, Gey and Ann-Marie, enjoy the scenery.

A hand-painted sign on the porch greets visitors, letting them know they’ve arrived at a welcoming home.

The property was purchased by Sandra’s great-grandfather Frans Andersson in 1925 after returning from America, where he had earned a living as a carpenter and saved up money for a house. Frans’s brothers Hugo, Emil and William also traveled to America, but only Frans returned home.

Frans likely chose this house simply because it happened to be available at that time. Following the trend of the era, Frans soon changed his surname from Andersson to Ahlroos.

“Frans was married three times and had a total of six children. His first two marriages ended when his wives passed away. He was meticulous and skillful at carpentry. Many of his handmade furniture pieces are still found in various homes. My aunt told me he sold them to neighbors for practically nothing,” Sandra explains.

Sandra loves refinishing furniture and takes these pieces on as her personal projects. The hostess cabinet in the living area is still awaiting its final finish. It was a Facebook flea market find by Ann-Marie.

The bench in the bedroom is one of the pieces Sandra has restored. Of the two wood-burning stoves downstairs, one is in this room.

Sandra and her husband usually stay in her brother’s former bedroom. The single bed was replaced with a double. Sandra’s aunt knitted the sweater shown here. The wallpaper is Nocturne by Boråstapeter.

The upstairs bedroom features Lilacs wallpaper by Boråstapeter. The mirrored dresser was made by Sandra’s great-grandfather, Frans. The dalahorse was carved by her great-uncle.

In the wedding photo, Sandra’s great-grandfather Frans is pictured with his first wife, Fanny. The leather-bound, wooden-covered Bible is from 1852. The writing desk was made by Frans.

Many of Frans’s furnishings are still in use at the siblings’ vacation home. Old photos show that the house’s atmosphere and spirit remain much the same, although the interior design has been updated. Brown and mustard-yellow have given way to fresher tones.

“Our mom is the most enthusiastic decorator now. She sends photos of her flea market and thrift finds to our family group chat and asks what we think. We kids trust her taste and give her free rein to bring her ideas to life,” Sandra says.

Sometimes, Sandra goes exploring in the old grain storehouse, which is still full of items from her grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ time.

“Now and then, I grab something and bring it inside the house. There’s always a place for it.”

Sandra enjoys the peace and quiet of their vacation home and feels she sleeps best there. There’s no TV in the house. “I heat the stoves, read magazines, and sometimes brew coffee. I’m truly happy here.”

In this photo, Sandra’s grandparents Taimi and Viking pose in front of the porch. Back then, the porch was almost entirely covered in hops. Grandpa’s letters to his wife always began with: Min kära maka (“my beloved wife” in Swedish). Among them is an envelope stamped with an Olympic logo, but the Winter War prevented the 1940 Summer Olympics from taking place.

The dalahorses were carved by Sandra’s great-uncle, who moved to Sweden. The youngest Ahlroos children love to ride them. The wallpaper is from Rusta’s Classic collection.

Sandra and her mother have been researching their family history and made fascinating finds in the house’s attic. Not long ago, they discovered the field mail Sandra’s grandfather, Viking, had sent to his wife Taimi in the 1940s from the front.

“There are hundreds of letters, and some parts are hard to read because grandpa wrote in pencil. It warms my heart to go through them. His longing for home and family comes through so strongly. He thanks grandma for her letters, sends greetings to the children, and always ends with a string of x’s for kisses. Before Christmas, he once received homemade cookies from grandma and wrote that he ate them all at once.”

Sandra’s earliest memory of her childhood home goes back to when she was about three years old.

“We were out back picking berries with grandma, and our black dog, Pelle, was racing around excitedly. The joy of it all! Only now, as an adult, have I realized how amazing it was to spend my childhood here.”

“Friends could always come for a sleepover. We watched Harry Potter movies together, and sometimes I got to join my older brothers’ game nights and band rehearsals,” Sandra recalls.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to be welcomed with open arms when we come back to our childhood home. We all appreciate having a place where we’re always welcome!”

This bedroom is typically where Tomas and his family stay. The bed is another thrift find by Ann-Marie. All the rag rugs in the house were woven by grandma Taimi. The parents’ 14-year-old cat, Shiva, has stopped by for a nap in the neighboring room.

In summer, Gey reels in perch by the shoreline. He usually releases them back into Lake Isojärvi. The family also has a boat, though they rarely find time to use it. A dock is still on the drawing board.