Kultaranta: The Presidential Summer Residence of Finland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Finland
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Palace
On this page11 sections
History
Kultaranta is the summer residence of the president of Finland in Naantali, Finland, on Luonnonmaa Island. Its granite manor was built from 1914 to 1916 in the Northern Art Nouveau and National Romantic styles for businessman and landowner Alfred Kordelin. The property later became an official seasonal residence and a setting for diplomatic and policy meetings.
Early history and Kordelin’s villa
The village of Kultaranta is recorded from the fifteenth century, when an abbey was among the institutions formerly located there. In 1906, the property was offered for compulsory sale at auction and was acquired by Alfred Kordelin. He commissioned a summer villa, designed by architect Lars Sonck, and spent only a short time there before his death in November 1917 during the Mommila bloodshed, a violent episode amid Finland’s revolutionary unrest. Kordelin was killed by a Russian sailor and looter.
After Kordelin’s death, the villa was donated to the Finnish University Society of Turku, which had been established in November 1917. In 1922, the Eduskunta, Finland’s Parliament, voted to acquire the property as the president’s summer residence.
Presidential residence
President Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg initially visited Kultaranta mainly for rest, while President Lauri Kristian Relander used it more regularly as an official residence. During the Second World War, it remained a quiet location and served as the summer residence of President Risto Heikki Ryti and senior officials. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim visited Kultaranta but did not spend a summer there because of his poor health.
The manor was enlarged and its interior repaired in 1929. During this work, the starry-sky vaulted ceiling of the Golden Room was replaced with a flat ceiling, following broader interior changes made during the 1920s. Kultaranta is protected in the Finnish Register of the Built Heritage and is designated a nationally significant built cultural environment in Finland.
Diplomatic and public role
King Gustav V of Sweden became the first foreign head of state to visit Kultaranta in 1927. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip came in 1976, followed by United States Vice President George H. W. Bush in 1983. During President Tarja Halonen’s presidency, visitors included Russian President Vladimir Putin, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Hungarian President Ferenc Mádl, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, European Commission President Romano Prodi, and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Since 2013, Kultaranta has hosted a major early-summer discussion event on foreign and security policy. From the summer of 2014, the president also invited specialists in these fields to meetings at the residence. In 2012, Latvian President Andris Bērziņš held official talks there with President Sauli Niinistö, and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Niinistö at Kultaranta in 2016. An outdoor art exhibition held there in 2010 included ten steel sculptures by Kari Huhtamo. When the president stays at Kultaranta, the Finnish flag is raised above the manor’s tower.
Remains
The manor
The principal building is a 19-room granite manor shaped like a medieval castle. Its design combines Northern Art Nouveau with National Romantic architecture, a style that drew on medieval forms, national history, local materials, and picturesque massing. Sonck originally intended the building to stand directly on the shore, but moved it to a rocky site 18 metres above sea level, the highest point of the property.
The ground floor contains reception and living areas, including a banquet room, other reception rooms, and private apartments. Bedrooms and guest rooms occupy the upper floor. Marble steps connect the ground floor with the tower, which overlooks Naantali and the park, with the inshore islands visible beyond. Most of the original furnishings were sold at auction and have not survived; terrace furniture and a chair in the Golden Room remain.
Ancillary buildings
The state property includes several ancillary buildings, among them Munkkimäki, also called Villa Walton, and a smaller castle used principally by staff. A two-storey guesthouse near the shore was completed in 2000. Its first visitors were King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia.
Parkland and gardens
The estate covers approximately 55 hectares and includes several parks, other buildings, and greenhouses. The manor occupies the highest location and is surrounded by parkland. The gardens were laid out between 1914 and 1915 by Svante Olsson, the City of Helsinki’s gardener, and his son Paul Olsson. They comprise a forest park, a formal French-style garden, and productive garden and greenhouse areas.
Forest park
The forest park is the oldest part of the garden and surrounds the manor. Its northern side has been maintained in an almost natural state, with limited clearing and a few sandy paths. The area formerly included a bobsleigh track described as Finland’s only such track.
Formal garden
The 16-hectare formal garden is called Medaljonki, meaning “Medallion.” It contains a rose garden with several thousand rose bushes and is open to the public.
Productive garden and greenhouses
The productive garden includes approximately 1,000 square metres of greenhouses. These supply the presidential residence throughout the year with flowers, vegetables, fruit, herbs, berries, and other produce, including carrots, turnips, potatoes, lettuce, beans, peas, currants, strawberries, and highbush blueberries.
