Hvitträsk

Hvitträsk is a studio and residential complex on a wooded ridge above Lake Vitträsk, at Hvitträskintie in Kirkkonummi, Uusimaa, Finland. Between 1901 and 1903 the architects Eliel Saarinen, Herman Gesellius and Armas Lindgren built it as a joint studio and home, away from the city. The three formed one of the leading Finnish architecture practices of the period, which designed the National Museum of Finland and the Finnish pavilion at the 1900 Paris World's Fair. Hvitträsk combines log and stone construction, steep roofs, and sculptural forms drawing on Finnish nature, folk building traditions and Jugend, the Finnish variant of Art Nouveau, which together make up National Romanticism. The main building, with the Gesellius and Saarinen wings, contains the studio, living rooms, and the Saarinen family home with furniture and textiles designed by the architects, including pieces by Eliel Saarinen and his wife Loja, a textile artist. Lindgren's house stands separately on the site. Saarinen lived at Hvitträsk until he moved to the United States in 1923, and his son Eero spent his childhood there. Later the buildings served as private homes and were damaged by fire in 1922 and then restored. The state acquired the property and, after careful restoration, it opened as a museum and is now managed by the National Museum of Finland. Visitors can tour the rooms, the studio, the garden, the lakeside paths, and a cafe in the former residence. The permanent exhibition describes the architects and the movement through original drawings, photographs, and artefacts. English guided tours are held daily at set times during the season, and a typical visit lasts one to two hours. Hvitträsk is about 30 kilometres west of Helsinki and is reached by car or by bus and a walk.