Hvitträsk Explained

60.1814°N 24.52°WHvitträsk is a mansion complex in Kirkkonummi, Finland, about 30km (20miles) west of Helsinki. It was designed as a studio home by the members of the Finnish architecture firm Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen, later becoming the private residence of Eliel Saarinen. It operated as a museum until 2024, when it was closed due to budget cuts by Petteri Orpo's government affecting the Finnish Heritage Agency.^[1]

Description

The development was started when the plot was purchased by the company in 1901. The construction was mostly completed by 1903.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} The house was named after Lake, beside which it was built. [H]vitträsk literally means White Lake. Today Hvitträsk is a museum open to the public. The red-roofed manor structure facing the lake is the main museum building, and the brownish structure separated on the other side by a yard is the cafeteria. There is also a smaller sauna down by the lake.^[6]

In 1922 Lindgren's home in the north side partially burned down. Eliel Saarinen's son Eero Saarinen designed a new building in its place in 1929–33.^{[6] [2] [7]}

Featured in publications

• Moderne Bauformen 6, no. 4 (1907): 159–62;8, no. 8 (1909): 350, 353.
• Hemma och Ute 3, (August 1913): 210–14; 3 (September 1913): 234–5.
• American Architect and Architectural Review 124 (September 26, 1923): 19 pls.
• Arkkitehti nos. 11–12 (1943): 24.
• Architectural Review 139 (February 1966): 152–54.
• Space Design no. 133 (September 1975): 91–94
• Connaissance des Arts no. 238 (December 1971): 108–13, 192.
• New York Times 13 February 1966, VI, p. 64.

External links

• Hvitträsk - official site

Notes and References

1. Web site: Museoviraston säästöt sulkevat Mannerheimin syntymäkodin, Seurasaaren ja muita museoita – "Koko toiminta kurjistuu" . Helsingin Sanomat. 25 October 2024.
2. Web site: Hvitträsk Historiaa . Kansallismuseo . 23 January 2018 . 28 June 2020.
3. Web site: Hvitträsk . Museot . 28 June 2020.
4. Web site: Hvitträsk Museum . Visit Espoo . 28 June 2020 . 25 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230325204224/https://www.visitespoo.fi/en/service/hvittrask-museum/ . dead .
5. Web site: Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi . Museovirasto Restauroi . 28 June 2020.
6. Web site: Hvittärskin ateljeehuvila . Valtakunnalliset merkittävät rakennetut kulttuuriympäristöt RKY . 28 June 2020.
7. Web site: Koskela . Anna . Hvitträsk Vaimojen vaihto ja kummituksia . Tämä Matka . 19 September 2017 . 28 June 2020.