Laivurintalo is Finnish for the Sea Captain’s House, and the house is named after Sea Captain Johan Hillström, who lived in the house with his wife and nine children in the mid-19th century. Kokkola’s Old Town is one of the largest and most cohesive areas of old wooden houses in Finland. After many twists and turns, including a period when Laivurintalo’s kitchen was used to print the Österbottningen newspaper, the house and the outbuildings ended up in my family’s possession and became our home. It is a pleasure and an honour for me to be able to share Laivurintalo’s cultural heritage with my guests. The house has been renovated systematically over the years, always in keeping with its original Empire style and preserving the feel of the mid-19th century. Just as important as the house itself is its history – stories that can be told again and again.
