The summer official residence of the President of the Republic of Finland began as a villa estate and garden founded by the businessman Alfred Kordelin, and later passed into state ownership. The main building, the granite Graniittilinna, was designed by Lars Sonck in the National Romantic style and completed in 1915. The estate covers 55 hectares with over 40 buildings or structures, of which about 32 hectares are forest and 15 hectares park.
The garden is one of Finland's first and well-preserved formal architectural-style gardens, with clipped shrubs and neoclassical garden buildings. It was designed by Helsinki's first city gardener Svante Olsson and his son, the landscape architect Paul Olsson. A modernist section called Ketju, designed by Maj-Lis Rosenbröijer, was added during a 1960s restoration. The main building, garden and park were fully renovated from 2018 to autumn 2024. The public can explore the garden on their own on summer Friday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m., and a virtual tour is available online. The car park and entrance are wheelchair accessible.
Have you visited the garden? Share your impressions in the comments for other visitors.
