Under the stars 

Housing, Kylä magazine, News / 23.4.2024

Text: Jenna Pigg | Pictures: Tiina Salminen, Tiitu Design

When asked Jonna Klinga, cleaning supervisor of Soihtu, her favorite place is the family cottage in Rutalahti, near Leivonmäki National Park. It has been an important place for Jonna since childhood, and together with her family over the years, she has been making it a place of their own. 

As is often the case with Finnish cottages, the Klingas’ cottage has no electricity or running water. However, Jonna thinks this is what makes the cottage such an important place. In the middle of the forest, you can enjoy nature and be completely yourself. 

Generally, the cottage is only used during the summer. That’s when people spend a lot of time there and the family’s corgi Diana can run around without a leash. In winter, access to the cottage is difficult because the roads are not cleared of snow. However, sometimes you want to get to the cottage in spite of the snowdrifts. In those situations, snowshoes, for example, can help you get to the cottage over the icy lake.  

Thanks to its remote location and the lack of electricity, there is no light pollution at all. “Nowhere is the starry sky more spectacular than on the shore of the cottage,” Jonna says.