A beautiful home is a pleasant place not only for people, but also for animals. The Elo family have nearly 50 pets.
When you make your dreams come true whilst you’re young, you have time to enjoy them for as long as possible. Sari and Janne were fearless young people when they moved from the centre of Turku to the tranquillity of the countryside in Lieto about ten years ago. Building a log house and a stable alongside their day jobs required perseverance and long days, as well as a great deal of support from family and friends.
The move was one of the best times in Sari and Janne’s lives, as the log house they’d long dreamt of turned out to be absolutely lovely. Their daughter, Ellen – now 11 – was born there first, followed seven years ago by their son, Eino. The family that has moved into the new house and its grounds is a large one. The family includes over 40 pets, both large and small. Cats, dogs and rabbits live in the house. In the grounds there are eight horses, five sheep and a large flock of chickens. The four-legged animals graze in the neighbouring meadow during the summer. For the winter, they have a stable, which was built at the same time as the house.
The whole building project began with horses. Sari has long had her own horse, a half-breed mare called Arte. To find stabling for her, they had to move out of the city. Sari and Janne had already been mentally prepared for this for a long time. All that stood in the way of them becoming builders was finding a plot of land suitable for the purpose.
The long search came to an end when Janne’s father spotted a newspaper advert. It advertised a plot of woodland for sale by the roadside between Lieto and Säkylä, with planning permission for both a house and a barn. The land was sold a week before Christmas 2009. That’s when things started to happen.
The Elos have always dreamt of a log house
Sari is the energetic designer of the Elo family, and Janne is a skilled builder. By trade, the host is a joiner, although he doesn’t actually work with wood in his day job. His manual skills have been put to good use in bringing Sari’s ideas to life.
They had prepared thoroughly in advance for the construction of the house. Sari had a floor plan she had designed herself ready, and, amongst other things, she had bought the Smeg fridge she wanted two years before the house was completed. Many interior design ideas were waiting to be put into practice once the walls were up.
The Elos have always dreamt of a log house. Its style, natural feel and good indoor air quality are the features that made Sari and Janne forget all other building materials. Once the plot and funding had been secured, quotes were requested from four log manufacturers. Mammuttihirsi was chosen from among them, resulting in the house having truly thick walls. They are 270 millimetres thick laminated logs.
In Sari’s rustic, romantic interior style, old items complement the new furniture. The décor has stood the test of time remarkably well. The overall look of the home is essentially exactly the same as it was over 10 years ago and still looks stunning.
Sari’s hairdressing salon was built in its own premises next to her home
Life in Paattinen has meant so much to Sari that she wants to work there too. Sari’s hairdressing salon, which used to be in Turku city centre, was given new premises right next to her home. Using a log kit ordered from Mammutti, Janne built a new building of around 30 square metres, where the hairdressing salon Arte opened its doors in February 2024.
Read the full story about this seaside villa in the magazine *Unelmien Hirsitalot II*.
Text: Jorma Välimaa
Photographs: Hans Koistinen
