Kotona, a Finnish lifestyle website focusing on homes, crafts and everyday Nordic living, recently showcased three festive homes that captured the hearts of its readers. (Kotona means “at home” in Finnish.)
One favourite is a small red wooden house from 1935 on the edge of a forest in Salo, a city in southwestern Finland. At Christmas, the cottage is dressed with traditional decorations like straw goats, himmelis (geometric mobile decorations) and a tree brought in from the forest.
“This home radiates love and calm,” one reader commented.
Readers were equally taken with Villa Tilda, a jewel-like 1930s home in Pälkäne, a small municipality close to Tampere in southern Finland. The house, protected by the Finnish Heritage Agency, now features a stunning glass porch.
“At Villa Tilda, we never skimp on time or effort at Christmas,” says owner Ulla. One reader summed it up simply: “This is Finland’s most beautiful home!”
Another home that captured readers’ hearts was the Marjamäki croft, a small red cottage built in 1882, which exudes an old-fashioned Christmas atmosphere in the middle of a Finnish forest.
“A beautiful, atmospheric cottage,” writes one admirer.
