It was in February 2014 when we visited Wanha Raatesalmi for the first time. It was a cold day, and the snow was glistening. We had travelled from grey and rainy Southern Finland and all that greyness now felt to be light years away. We remember stepping inside a 200-year-old house and feeling the warmth from the fireplace. After ten years of searching, we had come home.
Next July we moved in, eager to start the restoration of the farm. Previous owners had made a good start for us and now we “just” had to finish it. Many people must have thought that we were bit crazy to start project this big. Probably they were right, but that madness had brought us this far. A lot had been done but the biggest most thrilling part of the restoration was still ahead. The main building. Once a great and strong, was now standing neglected on the focal point of the farm. It looked bit sad. Like it was standing on the last pieces of strength it had left. On the dark arctic night under the auroras on the sky Mirva made a promise to it that it’s time will come.
That promise was kept, and the massive project started on summer 2019. At this point most of the log work has been done. It will still take time to get everything ready for the opening. But log by log we are closer to that day. And when that day is here once again there stands a great house and piece of Finnish history on the shore of lake Kuusamojärvi
In Wanha Raatesalmi on November 20th 2020
Mirva-Kristine ja Vesa Varpa
