My story is about an old house and its dedicated owners: how they valued the house and its past and how they wanted to renovate the house with skill and respect. Old Rauma in Finland has been on the Unesco World Heritage list since 1991. In 1987 Old Rauma received Europa Nostra prize. It is the largest area of uniform wooden houses in the Nordic countries. Most of the houses were built in the late 18th century. It is very important that people who live in these houses know how to take care of them in the right way, so that the authenticity of the buildings remains intact and we can keep this unique place alive and functional.

A HOUSE THAT LIVES ON

There is an old town on the western coast of Finland where most houses have a name. The names are in local dialect, and many of them are almost impossible to pronounce - even for a Finnish speaker. Or what do you think of such names as Hauenguan, Mölkkär, Rand-Uati, or Joki-Päewäne? This story tells about a house that has a bit easier name, though. The house is called Jussla, after a family that lived on the site already in the 1500s. The present building was built in the late 18th century – around the same time with all the other 600 wooden houses in the old town of Rauma. Jussla is one of the most important and most authentic buildings in Old Rauma today – thanks to two dedicated people who loved old houses and who were determined to take care of their new home the best way they could. Most of all, they wanted to renovate the house with traditional techniques and methods and in doing so, restore the original spirit of the house.

Back to basics

Sinikka and Raimo, the couple who bought Jussla in 1974, shared a feel for history. They appreciated Jussla’s past and the people who had lived there before them. In many ways they felt that they were just a passing face in the story of the house. The new owners of Jussla didn’t want to paint over the past. On the contrary, they wanted to emphasize the identity of the house and bring to light all the layers of life that could be found inside the building. Their aim was not to turn the modest house into a modern high-tech home. No way! They wanted the house to represent the kind of living the house was accustomed to: simple, sparse and sincere.

Goodbye to plastics

The couple had a clear-cut plan how to renovate the house: he would take care of the outer facade and masonry, she would work on the surfaces inside the house, and do the painting jobs. Their idea was to make the house look and feel the way it had been in the early 1800s. From old documents found between floor boards and layers of wallpaper, they learned about the people who had lived in the building before. The most dramatic changes to the house had been made in the 1950s and 1960s, when the historical values of Old Rauma were not yet recognized. House owners were eager to make the houses more modern by adding bathrooms, central heating and other conveniences. Jussla’s owners had replaced old six frame windows by bigger two frame windows. They had covered the foundation, made of natural stones, with concrete. The kitchen had been turned into a bathroom, and the old baking room was turned into a modern kitchen. Old wooden doors were replaced by plywood doors. Floor boards were covered with a wall-to-wall carpeting. Sinikka and Raimo were determined to restore the old materials. This required a lot of work both outside and inside the house. It meant goodbye to plastic surfaces and chipboard – and welcome to old fireplaces and chimney flues!

Paint maker

Sometimes they would find spare parts for the windows and doors up in their attic – or in the neighbor's attic. A piece of ceramic found in the earth revealed the color of the old furnace. Color schemes were discovered when paint was scraped off the floors and walls. Sinikka found out that the front room of the house had been painted with bright ultramarine. Later she learned why: in the old days it was believed that the blue color kept the flies away! But where to find paint for the walls? Shops did not carry paints that were used two hundred years ago. Sinikka decided to make the paint by herself. The recipes she found in old books, and the paint she cooked in her pots in her kitchen. Nothing to it! Take your time Sinikka and Raimo were not trained to renovate old buildings but they were eager to learn. Help or guidelines for the work was not easy find in the 1970s. There were no renovation centers as there are today. To learn about the old techniques the couple went on excursions, read books, and talked with artisans, carpenters, museum conservators, and architects living in Old Rauma. Hanna Elo, a Rauma based architect, knows Jussla and all the hard work that Raimo and Sinikka put into the house. ”It is remarkable that the couple lived in the house for ten years before they started to renovate it. In this way they knew the house inside out”, Elo says. ”To live in an old house is to lead a certain way of live. You need to be active: in winter you need to heat the building, put up double windows, close the cat flaps. You live the house, so to say.” According to Elo, the most important thing to remember when renovating an old house is not to hurry – and not to do anything on impulse. ”You need to appreciate an old building and make sure that even after alterations the house has dignity and character.” ”Each house has its own identity”, Elo reminds us.

European style of living, taking care of the environment, taking care of you neighbours, living together with your neighbours, sharing, communicating, appreciating and fixing old things instead of buying new, conservation - these are the ideas and values that I would like to express through my story. We need to embrace all these ideas if we want to live at peace in Europe at the moment. When we take care of old houses we, at the same time, show appreciation to the old ways of life: instead of consuming and trying to be more efficient all the time, we should promote life styles that are modest, environmental-friendly, social, happy.