Historian Jaana’s “own playhouse”: fulfilling colorful design dreams in an Alvar Aalto row house apartment

Jaana has flung open the door of her second home. It’s a hot summer day, and a lace curtain that belonged to her grandmother flutters in the summer breeze at the doorway. A vase filled with summer flowers sits beside the steps. Inside, soft Finnish pop music plays quietly, promising that there’s still summer left. It’s easy to believe.

Jaana’s second home is part of a community of red, horizontally paneled row house apartments in the Kauttua ironworks village of Eura. The apartments were built in 1944. Designed by renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, the 70-year-old row house is called Sähkötalo (“Electric House”) because it was the first in Eura to have electric stoves installed.

Jaana, on the other hand, simply calls her second home a playhouse.

“Here I can peacefully pursue my own interior design projects, so ‘playhouse’ seems like an apt name.”

Originally, there were several layers of vinyl flooring in Jaana’s apartment. During the renovation, the underlying wooden floor was sanded and treated with a translucent white finish. The dark wall panels were given a light surface with Tikkurila’s panel paint.

Jaana found the red metal cabinet a flea market, and the ‘Kirjailija’ (“Writer”) poster on the wall is from a small shop in Loviisa.

The desk and chair are secondhand. The poster above the desk is of a work by Salvador Dalí.

Jaana bought the wall rug, green table, and armchair at a local flea market. The wall rug is called ‘Hedelmä’ (“Fruit”) and was designed by Johannes Saari. The living room wall is painted with Tikkurila’s V431 ‘Nukkumatti’ (“Sandman”), which suits the calm atmosphere of the home.

Jaana left this small town when she was young, thinking it had nothing more to offer her. Over the years, she has lived in Helsinki, Porvoo, Turku, and, due to her husband’s work, even Moscow with her family.

About ten years ago, Jaana began dreaming of a second home in her hometown.

“My longing stemmed mainly from wanting to return to the very same place where I had lived as a child.”

In 2017, her dream came true when she discovered and purchased an apartment in Sähkötalo in Kauttua. Jaana didn’t even look at other options. The beauty and tranquility of a place familiar from her childhood appealed to her.

The apartment was just the right size, but it needed some cosmetic renovations.

“We’ve redone the wall surfaces here and installed a completely new kitchen. The wooden wall panels were preserved but got a new coat of paint,” Jaana explains.

Jaana found the dining chairs at a secondhand shop in Helsinki. They were her first purchase for the second home. The gray lamp is from K-Rauta.

Jaana recalls that the old kitchen dated back to the ’70s. It had reached the end of its lifespan, and its counters were impractically low. The new black kitchen is by Mavi-kaluste from Rauma.

The shelf unit doubling as additional counter space in the kitchen was bought at Ikea. On the wall, there are small posters bought from trips and at flea markets.

As a town known for its ironworks, Eura has an interesting history that includes Iron Age discoveries, the establishment of an ironworks in the 1600s, and the significant role of metal and paper workers in the local industry. No wonder the town inspires Jaana as a historian. In the spacious living room of her second home, there’s plenty of room for stories: shelves are filled with books.

Jaana, who has studied history, once dreamed of a career as a researcher. Her dissertation was eventually left unfinished, but a different kind of piece began to take shape on her desk.

Jaana had long been fascinated by working-class culture, and while working on her dissertation, she became acquainted with the life stories of the Sinervo sisters. She first wrote the story of poet Elvi Sinervo, and her latest book tells about the life of Elvi’s sister, journalist-politician Sylvi-Kyllikki Kilpi.

Jaana wrote the text for the second book in Kauttua. Living in Helsinki, she says that the second home is perfect for writing.

“It’s so peaceful here. The beautiful nature is close by, and everyday distractions like dishes or laundry haven’t disturbed the creative writing process.”

Rattan furniture is perfect for the cottage setting.

Jaana loves that she can decorate the cottage entirely to her own liking.

Jaana is a bookworm, so there must be space for books even in the second home.

Someone visiting Kauttua in summer is most likely interested in Alvar Aalto’s designs, which are present in many places in the town. The functionalist Terassitalo, known internationally as Terraced House, was built in Kauttua in 1938.

Built as residences for the upper staff of Kauttua’s factories, the Terraced House follows down the fairly steep slope it’s constructed on. The flat roof of each apartment serves as the terrace for the house above. One of the six apartments is open to the public.

In Ruukinpuisto, an early industrial area, by the Eurajoki River, resides Aalto’s Riverside Sauna, which is Finland’s only sauna and laundry building designed by Aalto that is still in public use.

In Kauttua, you quickly notice how beautifully the buildings and roads follow the shape of the natural landscape. This is no coincidence but intentionally designed. Aalto’s first task was to design a master plan for the factory area and its surroundings, including the houses.

Jaana chose the bedroom wallpaper from K-Rauta’s Cello collection.

This chair is from a local flea market.

Jaana enjoys reading on the sofa she built from pallets on the shady veranda.

The lace curtains Jaana inherited from her grandmother shelter the terrace from the sun.

As a child, Jaana lived just a kilometer away from her current second home. “In summer, I visit the same beach as I did in my childhood,” she says.

Jaana is the one who enjoys the row house apartment the most, but her other family members are also welcome in. Sometimes her adult daughters visit separately or with their spouses, and sometimes she shares coffee with local friends. However, Jaana is quite happy to spend time alone in her playhouse.

“I hop on my bike and go on a swim just a few minutes away,” she says.

Being close to water wasn’t the most important criterion for Jaana when she decided to buy her leisure home.

“The most important things are the peace and beauty that fill the entire town.”