After Gesellius' death in 1916, Hvitträsk became the property of Saarinen alone. He lived there with his family until he moved to the United States in 1923. Thereafter, Hvitträsk was the Saarinen family summer home until the architect died in 1950. His son, Eero Saarinen, an architect who worked in the United States, spent his childhood in this house.
At the beginning of the 1900s, Hvitträsk was the home of three architects and their families, as well as the site of their dynamic practice, where the trio's main works were designed at a hectic pace. It was also the home of culture, frequented by such friends as the composers Jean Sibelius and Gustav Mahler, the artists Pekka Halonen and Akseli Gallen-Kallela, the author Maxim Gorki, the art historian Julius Meier-Graefe, and the art critic Ugo Ojetti.
Many Finnish artists sought relief from the noise of the city at the turn of the century and built wilderness studios in the untouched nature. In the 1890s, artists searched for inspiration in vernacular architecture by travelling to Karelia, in particular. Akseli Gallen-Kallela, the artist, inspired by the Karelian architectural heritage, designed a log house, Kalela, in the Ruovesi wilderness, while Jean Sibelius built Ainola in Tuusula. The architects Gesellius, Lindgren and Saarinen looked for a peaceful place near Helsinki. They found an attractive sloping plot on the shore of Lake Vitträsk, where they built a wilderness studio. The villa was called Hvitträsk after the lake. The architecture at the turn of the century in Finland is generally known as National Romantic, which hints at the Finnish national features. Bold and personal in design, Hvitträsk combines national and international features. The former is clear in the use of debarked round logs, the latter in the base made of blocks of stone, the powerful roof forms and the interior layout. The main building comprised of two flats separated by the architects' office. The north wing was dominated by the log tower designed by Lindgren. The entire north wing was destroyed in a fire in 1922, and was not rebuilt to the original design.
Saarinen's flat was in the south wing. It has been restored and now serves as a museum. The ground floor is dominated by a high, wide living room which opens onto the vaulted dining room. Stairs lead to the upper floor from the living room. The general layout of the living room, the stairs and fireplace point to the English architectural tradition, with which Saarinen was familiar through such publications as Studio magazine. The vaults and paintings of the dining room were inspired by medieval church arches.
The idea of the Arts and Crafts movement, that the home is a complete work of art where all the objects must be designed to suit the whole, was realised in Hvitträsk. The furniture in Saarinen's home, for example, as well as some of the textiles and ornaments, were the handiwork of Saarinen and his wife Loja. The dominant object in the living room, a wall-hanging entitled Flame, was given to Saarinen by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. At first Gesellius lived on the other side of the yard in a separate house. When Lindgren moved out, Gesellius settled into the flat at the northern end of the house, which he furnished with furniture he had designed himself. < BACK
Timo Keinänen