HS Espoo | Is this Finland’s most secret office? A secret door opens from the gun cabinet of a luxurious mansion to a special place

Few a person comes out of the closet every day. Ulla Kuusimäki does that, and of course he also goes to the closet every day.

The reason is that Kuusimäki has a study there.

This remarkable cabinet is located in Espoo in the Karhusaari art center, Sinebrychoff’s villa, where Kuusimäki and seven other artists and creative professionals work.

And that’s not all: according to one story itself Gustav Mannerheim stayed behind the closet door while spending his time as a guest of the Sinebrychoffs.

So what is it about?

KUusimäki presents his studio. He walks over to the old gun cabinet by the wall and grabs one of the cabinet doors.

When it opens, it is revealed to be a secret door: behind it is a small room and stairs leading up.

The room is now empty with a journalist working in it Aino-Mari Tuuri has already left for evacuation.

The renovation of Sinebrychoff’s villa is expected to start on March 1st, and it is scheduled to last eight months.

In addition to the flaky exterior, the party and meeting rooms on the lower and middle floors require the most repair work.

When we go up the stairs behind the secret door, we come to a small cellar where Kuusimäki works. The room is small but cozy.

Two of Mannerheim’s orders of the day from the time of the wars are attached to the walls.

“I don’t practice any Mannerheim cult here. I’m writing a non-fiction book about the Winter and Continuation War, which is based on the correspondence of two siblings,” explains Kuusimäki.

“The daily orders are included in the book.”

According to Kuusimäki, the premises are commonly called Marski’s rooms. It is said that the attic would have been a bedroom, and the living room was located below it.

“It is not certain that Mannerheim stayed here. No record was kept of the guests and the rooms they used,” says Kuusimäki.

“Knowing his asceticism and desire to remain invisible at times, this would have been a suitable place, however. Through Vinti, you can also unobtrusively access the flat roof, which is like a terrace.”

Nicolas Sinebrychoff (1856–1896) built the villa as his summer residence in the early 1890s. The villa is surrounded by a farm with workers’ apartments, barns, barns and stables.

The Sinebrychoffs were once the wealthiest people in Finland, and the glory of the past can still be seen in the dilapidated building.

The style of the villa is neo-renaissance. Model architect Karl August Wrede took from Italian palaces.

The details have been carefully considered: for example, almost every brick oven in the house is of its own kind, unique.

And the gun safe is by no means the only secret door in the house. There is a tall mirror on the wall of the room on the middle floor, through which you can unobtrusively access the veranda.

Sinebrychoffen the way of life was something that Finns are used to seeing only in epic movies and TV series.

Luxurious parties were organized at the villa, especially in the summer.

“There were parties in the first years of the villa. It was part of the normal lifestyle of a business family: networks were maintained, new relationships were established and one’s position in society was demonstrated,” says Katja Weiland-Särmälä.

He has researched the history of Sinebrychoff’s villa and completed his doctoral dissertation on nobleman culture.

The Sinebrychoffs had their own steamboat with which the visitors could get from Hietalahti via Otaniemi to Karhusaari. Luxurious horse-drawn carriages were also used as a procession, with a lackey standing behind during the ride.

On the island, guests could go on sleigh rides in the winter, and wolf furs were offered for warmth.

When the guests sat down for a meal in the villa, the hall was decorated with flowers brought from their own heated greenhouse. The food was lifted from the kitchen to the dining room by an elevator, which was hidden in a cabinet decorated with wood carvings.

After eating, the men retired to the upstairs game room to play cards, smoke cigars and enjoy fine drinks.

The glorious social life at the villa lasted only a few years.

The party ended when Nicolas died at only 40 years old. Later his widow Anna Sinebrychoff (1854–1944) became blind.

A gentleman the lifestyle was made possible by the servants, which could number as many as a dozen.

In 1892, five employees and their families lived on the farm all year round. The housekeepers, the club lady and the house teacher came to the villa with the gentlemen at the beginning of June.

The servants lived a completely different life than the Sinebrychoffs.

“The gentlemen ate fine meals, but the servants ate more modestly, for example bread dipped in lard and fish. A lot of work was done from morning to night,” says Weiland-Särmälä.

Weiland-Särmälä reminds us that even though the class differences were drastic from today’s perspective, the Sinebrychoffs took care of their employees. For them, the Sinebrychoffs even had their own hospital with staff.

“Many of the servants worked at the villa all their lives and even for many generations. They also felt proud to be in such a great place. We talked about ‘our Karhusaari’.”

of Sinebrychoff the villa is protected by the Finnish Museum Agency. The area is considered an exceptionally valuable and intact entity, which includes, in addition to the main building, a garden, a park area and side buildings.

The side buildings are also the work of architect Wrede.

“Anna Sinebrychoff, who was blind, tried to keep everything the same for decades, which explains why the whole has been preserved so well,” says Weiland-Särmälä.

The area also has other historical deposits, such as ramparts and fortresses from the Crimean War.

Karhusaari’s villa was by no means the only property owned by the Sinebrychoffs in Espoo. The family also had the manors of Otaniemi and Hagalund.

Family members visited each other diligently.

“The Otaniemi manor no longer exists, and Hagalund is privately owned. Karhusaari’s villa is the only one that the people of Espoo can visit.”

of Sinebrychoff the villa has repeatedly been in the headlines in recent years.

Espoo’s Tilapalvelui has tried to get a single entrepreneur to run the entire villa’s operations. In 2018, the city of Espoo tried to get a playground for children in Karhusaari, Lasten maail.

The project fell through the initiative of the council and the municipality, which hoped to develop the area with the municipality, residents’ associations and companies.

In November 2022, the lease contracts of the people of the Karhusaari art center were unexpectedly terminated, but the eviction was eventually canceled.

The tenants of the art center have now been invited to participate in the development of the villa and the area.

Ulla Kuusimäki does not object to a private entrepreneur operating the villa, but wants to emphasize the building’s cultural-historical significance and the fact that the villa belongs to all the people of Espoo.

“Here, entrepreneurs and professionals in the creative field can work side by side. I could see that the hybrid model would work really well,” says Kuusimäki.

According to Kuusimäki, Espoo could take a model from neighboring cities.

Vantaa has just decided to turn the Håkansböle mansion into a museum.

In Helsinki, those working in literature will have their own place, Teksti talon. In Kuusimäki’s opinion, the operations of Karhusaari Art Center could be developed in a similar way with the current tenants.

According to Kuusimäki, Karhusaari has many strengths. The area is a popular outdoor recreation area, and there is a beach next to it. Downstairs could very well have a cafe, which would attract people to the house.

“It would also be good if the people of Espoo could enter the villa more often. Now it can only be done on the open days of the art center or when the townspeople rent spaces.”

The buildings and history of the Sinebrychoff villa can be found at the Espoo City Museum In the Story Player service.