400 window panes! Finnish couple’s epic restoration of a district doctor’s villa

An excited buzz of conversation fills the parlor of the log-built villa, and the air carries the scent of freshly brewed coffee. A bouquet picked from the garden decorates the table. Gathered here are residents and summer visitors from Sotkamo, Finland, whom Päivi and Risto Myllynen have invited to a shared celebration.

The summer celebration also includes guests who have helped uncover the villa’s history and plan its restoration.

“They were pleased, and we were happy that we dared to extend an open invitation to the villagers. Throwing parties is absolutely worth it—it brings joy,” says Päivi Myllynen.

The Myllynens’ three-day celebration weekend was set for the height of July. In addition to neighbors and villagers, the Myllynens’ friends, relatives, and family members were there. The festivities made room for both flute and traditional Finnish kantele music, and they culminated in Kainuu’s regional anthem, sung standing and accompanied by harmonium.

To Päivi, the party was also the best way to show people nearby that the villa is open to visitors, even though its owners have changed. The century-old villa, named Villa Horsmala, has been the Myllynen family’s holiday home for six summers. It was built by the local district physician Albert Isotalo, and the villa’s history has been pieced together little by little.

Villa Horsmala and its surroundings are tailor-made for a poet who draws from nature—just what Päivi has become. The villa’s grounds brim with life in summer, as birds strike up their songs from early morning and, as the season unfolds, climbers reach skyward in the garden.

Päivi has written poems since childhood. The villa, too, inspires writing and sparks insights. It’s not just a house, but to Päivi, a living, never-ending story.

Used only in summer, Horsmala stands in the Lake Nuasjärvi villa district, which once grew into a cluster of summer places especially for the region’s teacher training seminar community living in nearby Kajaani. For a long time, people arrived mostly by water; the shore at the neighboring villa was a stop for the Sotkamo–Kajaani boat.

The villa is built on an old tar-burning site, and two tar pits have been found on the grounds. A deep ditch along the edge of the plot has long carried spring water, and the channel was also used to fill tar barrels.

An essential part of life at the villa has always been music. So important, in fact, that Albert Isotalo’s daughter Leea had a grand piano brought to the house by water for the summer. Leea Isotalo went on to become a pianist and piano teacher.

The Myllynen family has always made plenty of music, too. The old harmonium found its way to the villa from Kajaani. Inscriptions on the instrument reveal it came from Karelia, nowadays part of Russia. Its age likely rivals that of its current home.

The villa has also sparked its current owners’ interest in what life in the house used to be like. One of its former owners was the architect Osmo Sillman, whose spouse Margaretha was known as a revitalizer of culture.

“During their time, the villa filled with recited poetry and songs. The thought of that feels warm—almost like an invitation to carry on the tradition. I dream that this villa could serve as a source of creativity for other writers, too. A place where words find their shape,” reflects Päivi Myllynen.

The villa’s interiors exude a sense of the past and an ambience you simply can’t capture with new construction.

“When we thought about what color to paint the porch floor, someone suggested white. That would be a safe choice, of course, but we think colors that create atmosphere belong here,” says Päivi.

The Myllynens were able to buy the villa with all its contents. Even though there’s always painting and repairs to do outside, they’ve kept the interiors as they were.

Päivi’s spouse Risto has been deeply involved in the renovation. He tackled much of the early log repairs in particular, as well as restoring doors and windows and doing the painting.

“For me, it’s mostly been paint stripping, painting, planning, and dreaming out loud—as well as the lighter tasks in our joint projects,” says Päivi.

When Päivi was removing acrylic paint from an exterior wall, she named it the Morning Sun Wall, because the morning sun warms it through the morning. In the mornings she was often joined by many birds: pied flycatcher, wren, blackcap, and treecreeper.

“Villa Horsmala’s nature is full of surprises—new bird species, plants, and color harmonies. The villa has opened so many doors in my life that I never could have imagined it.”

Summers at villa Horsmala have been full of learning. Restoring the windows or painting the exterior walls has been no small task, as the villa’s roof rises high.

Päivi and Risto have spent several summers on scaffolding. Restoring the windows means removing and re-puttying 442 glass panes, which teaches perseverance and traditional methods. The joy of working with your hands peaks especially at those moments when the job is complete—when the Myllynens sip celebratory coffee on the veranda. And between tasks, there’s always time for neighbors who drop by.

“I’ve said that anyone can stop by anytime. We can always come down from the scaffolding, and there’s room up there—if you like, you can climb up and join us!”

From the Myllynens’ home in Sotkamo, it’s only about a half-hour’s drive to the villa. As a teacher with a long summer break, Päivi is the most frequent user of the place, but the rest of the family also look forward to days at the villa. Risto’s free time usually fills with fishing, and he has gotten the family’s four sons excited about it, too.

Even with so much to do, alongside the work Päivi has still found time to swim and sauna, keep a cottage diary, and enjoy the simple life. When Villa Horsmala is bid farewell for winter, memories of summer days linger and warm Päivi’s mind like the sun.