ESPOO MAGAZINE 2/2020

The Villa Museum Villa Rulludd is an uncommonly
well-preserved example of early villa architecture
along the entire Uusimaa coast. The museum is a
time capsule of the summer holidays of the culturally
active Kihlman family. They enjoyed summers at their
villa for six generations until the villa passed into the
ownership of the City of Espoo in 1980.
Memorial book of Agneta Kihlman, 1936–1941. This
page in the memorial book shows a drawing made by
Agneta’s aunt Agnes Kihlman, an arts teacher, of the
Päijänne pavilion at Villa Rulludd in 1937.
my espoo
Further information: kulttuuriespoo.fi/en/rulludd
Swimming, previously
regarded as a pastime
of the common people,
became popular among ”the gentlefolk.
Summer
villas dot
the islands
Villas were big in the 1920s
and 1930s. The bourgeoisie
of Helsinki used to migrate
to their villas in Espoo for the
summer to enjoy crayfish
banquets, swimming and
social life in general.
In 1920, Espoo was a
rural municipality with a
population of less than
9,000. Growth and
urbanisation began in
the 1940s.
Text Hanna Leino Photo Espoo City Museum
› Espoo became a choice destination for summer residents
in the 19th century when upper-class folk and merchants
from Helsinki began to seek out the peace and quiet of the
countryside in Espoo. City homes were cramped and maintained
to strict standards to keep up appearances, and there
was little potential for outdoor recreation.
Back in the day, people with villas did not just pop over for
the weekend – they relocated there for the entire summer.
They would pack up a cartload of items, including linens
and tableware. Their servants came with them, of course.
They journeyed by steamship and boat from the Market
Square in Helsinki to maritime Espoo. There were clusters
of villas particularly in Degerö (now Laajasalo) and on the
islands off Espoo, amidst lovely landscapes but conveniently
served by local shipping.
These villas were not summer cottages as we understand
the term today. They were designed as fully liveable
leisure residences with several outbuildings such as gazebos
and bathing houses, the latter typically perched on the
end of a jetty. Swimming used to be regarded as a pastime
of the common people, but gentlefolk soon took it up when
the outdoor life came to be idealised at the turn of the 20th
century.
Conceptions about appearances began to shift too:
tanned skin and muscle tone were no longer regarded as
coarse and common. Tennis and other outdoor sports
were embraced by gentlefolk, and gardening was keenly
adopted as a hobby. Villa gardens flourished. Villas had
balconies and terraces on which to enjoy sunny summer
days, and plenty of windows to admit the abundant summer
sunlight.
Such settings were ideal for hosting guests, and
Midsummer bonfires and crayfish banquets in August
could bring together families from several villas.
While the better-off lived it up at their villas, the poor
folk continued their everyday lives in the city. There was
no such thing as a holiday for working people, so even
among the gentlefolk the men who had jobs might commute
to Helsinki to work by steamship.
This article is based on an interview with researcher
Heli Haavisto MA. In the autumn, Haavisto gives
talks on the villas and other cultural-historical sites in
Espoo in the lecture series Espoon helmet
[Espoo gems]. The talks are held at the Espoo
City Museum, and admission is free.
Children of the
Kihlman family
on the steps
of Vintervillan
(Winter villa) at
VIlla Rulludd.
(1930, photographer
unknown )
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