Suviranta

Eero and Saimi Järnefelt’s artist home

At the turn of the 20th century, a group of artists moved to the Lake Tuusula region. At that time, Finland was part of the Russian Empire as an autonomous Grand Duchy. During politically challenging times, the artsist shaped Finnish identity and culture through literature, music, and visual arts.

One of these artists was Eero Järnefelt, along with his wife, Saimi Järnefelt, née Swan. They built their artist home called Suviranta (”Summer shore”) on the shore of Lake Tuusula in 1901.

The house was designed by architect Usko Nyström. It represents wooden Art Nouveau style. The property is surrounded by an impressive English-style garden.

Eero and Saimi had five children: Heikki, Leena, Sara, Laura and Olai.

Suviranta has been in the residential use of the Järnefelt family and their descendants from its construction to this day. It is still a private home and can only be visited on guided tours. Guided tours can be held in May-August on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 2 pm and in September on Sundays at 2 pm.

The guided tour covers the garden and the main building. You will hear about the former residents of the house, art and life at Suviranta. The tour lasts about 45 minutes, after which you may return to garden for a while.

Book a guided tour for your group at suviranta@jarvenpaa.fi. We kindly ask you to book a guided tour at least two weeks in advance.

Suviranta cannot be visited independently.

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Eero Järnefelt

Eero Järnefelt (1863–1937) was one of Finland’s best-known artists. He painted landscapes, portraits, and scenes of Finnish rural life. He was also one of the early pioneers of Finnish graphic art. In addition to his work as an artist, Järnefelt had an important career as a drawing teacher at the university. He influenced many Finnish artists of his time.

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Saimi Järnefelt

Saimi Järnefelt (1867–1944) was an actress at the Finnish Theatre in Helsinki from 1885 to 1893. The theatre later became the Finnish National Theatre. She was also a literary translator. She translated English literature into Finnish, including George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss and Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities.