Villa Rauhanniemi

Architect Joanna Laajisto’s Finnish Family Cabin on a Secluded Lake

Checking all the minimalist boxes, this personal cabin, designed by its owner, architect Joanna Laajisto, is tucked into the pine woods next to a secluded lake just an hour outside of Helsinki. Built above the forest floor, the cabin is surrounded by a platform deck space, with a cozy natural interior atmosphere of Douglas fir, light pine wood, terracotta, limestone and neutral-hued textiles.

The cabin’s living room is a designer oasis, with an Ateljee sofa by Yrjö Kukkapura, a leather 411 armchair by Ben Af Schulten for Artek and Aalto chairs and a Le Corbusier lamp de Marseille from Nemo in the kitchen.

The cabin’s four bedrooms are intentionally spare, the primary suite opening to the outdoors, and there are six beds, some of them bunk beds. The bedrooms share a designer bathroom, and there’s a classic Finnish sauna connected to the house for year-round use.

Around

The cabin is tucked into a pine forest along a lakeside in Karjalohja, about an hour’s drive from Helsinki. Forest encircles the cabin, and there’s a small lake for water sports in season—swimming, boating, canoeing, kayaking and fishing. Spas and lakeside experiences are abundant in the area, a verdant region known as Uusima. The nearby city of Lohja offers shops, restaurants and cafes as well as a unique Mine Museum set 110 meters below sea level. There are guide and rental services for outdoor recreation in the area, as well as easy-going forest hikes in the area through boulder-dotted forests and along planned nature parks and trails. Local manors and farms are open for exploring as well.

Location

Karjalohja, Uusima, Finland. Nearest airport: Helsinki (1 hour)

Best time to visit

June to September (fall foliage is on a par with Upstate New York and Quebec)