A rustic Finnish cottage is remote but the lifestyle it offers has been embraced by its Kiwi owner.
No bathroom and miles from anywhere, this log cabin in Finland is home to an expat Kiwi and his Finnish wife
From a typical New Zealand house at the beach to a log cabin in the Finnish forest – Kiwi-born food photographer Sam Ashcroft and his Finnish wife, artist Carolina Grunér, have experienced both in recent years but now feel Finland is the place to be for themselves, daughter Grace, four, and two dogs border collie-dachshund cross Charlie and rescue dog Fred.
The 56sqm log house was built in the early 1900s in Gumbostrand, Sipoo, in southern Finland and transferred from the archipelago to its current location near Porvoo in the 1940s and now sits off a winding narrow road in the middle of the forest. The story has it that it was originally brought over as a wedding gift. It’s now joined by an 80sqm studio where Carolina paints.
“I love the peace and quiet, and don’t miss town one bit. Here we spend most of our days outside. Especially in the summertime, we more or less only sleep inside. We got ourselves a puppy when we moved in and this spring Charlie was accompanied by rescue dog Fred,” Carolina explains.
Carolina and Sam met years ago in Finland, got married and started their lives together in a period building in central Helsinki. After their daughter was born about three years ago, the couple fancied trying out life in Sam’s home country and moved to New Zealand.
“Sam wanted our daughter Grace and me to have a taste of his native country. When the opportunity arose to live in Sam’s mother’s large beach house, we decided to pack up and head for adventure.
“We sold everything we owned and off we went,” says Carolina.
The family lived right on the coastline in New
Zealand at Sumner Beach, Christchurch, for nearly two years before returning to Finland in 2019.
“Although a multi-storey beach house in New Zealand sounds like a dream come true, we knew it was only a temporary solution. I love the sea and skiing and both were possible near our New Zealand home. The slopes were only an hour away and we virtually lived on the beach. But work was going well for both of us in Finland, and right from the start, we knew it was only an experiment,” says Sam.
Their home in Finland is owned by Carolina’s stepfather and the family initially rented it as a temporary place while looking for a permanent home. The thought of living outside of a city was appealing and the couple enjoyed life in the countryside so decided to stay.
“We fell for country living. We’re surrounded by a large garden and nature is right on our doorstep. Our gate leads to a luscious forest and we get to experience the best that rural living has to offer.
“We tend to do our errands in Porvoo, which is only a 10-minute drive away. We pop into Helsinki a few times a month,” says Sam.
The spaces are divided across two floors: a hallway, toilet, kitchen and living room downstairs and a small lobby and two bedrooms upstairs.
The old house has been used as a summer villa for a long time and Carolina, Sam and Grace are the first residents in 30 years to live there throughout the year. There is no bathroom so the family uses the garden sauna to wash, and an indoor toilet is concealed behind a floral curtain under the stairs. The boho feel suits the artist family perfectly.
With little furniture to their name, moving into a furnished house was a handy solution. Once they decided they wanted to stay, Carolina began to turn the interiors more to her liking. Some of the furniture remained, some she took to her studio. The couple have added their own stamp to the home. Unsurprisingly art plays a starring role,
and Carolina has added paintings throughout. The couple had several of Carolina’s own paintings hanging on the walls of their previous home, but here they are mainly kept in the studio.
“The studio is filled with my paintings, but I’ve wanted to hang pieces by other artists in our home, including works by Leena Nousiainen, Manuela Bosco, Jessica Kritter, Johanna Alanko, Steven James Tunney and Ria Bäckström,” says Carolina.
In New Zealand, Carolina had her studio on the lower floor of their home, her paintings gaining a beautiful, light-filled colour palette in the new surroundings.
It seems country living suits this creative couple, who have found the space for constant inspiration since their return to Finland. No wonder they are content to stay put.