Over the course of the decades, the Aaltos´ designed several private houses for their personal friends. Each of the houses strongly conveys the personal relationship between the residents or family and their home. The most significant of the homes designed for friends is Villa Mairea (1938-1939). It was built for Harry and Maire Gullichsen, the director of the company A. Ahlström and his wife, in the Noormarkku ironworks area. Maire Gullichsen was one of the four founding members of Artek, along with Aino Marsio-Aalto, Alvar Aalto and Nils-Gustaf Hahl.

The elevations are partly in wood, with teak and Finnish pine, and partly with thin stone slabs and rough-cast rendering. The main entrance has a colonnade of unstripped saplings supporting a free-form roof. A few steps lead up from the entrance hall to the living room, whence a staircase bordered by irregularly composed wooden poles leads up to the upper floor. The ground floor is reserved for entertaining. The spaces naturally invite the visitor to stay, and despite their somewhat public character, have nevertheless an intimate feel. Part of the external wall is movable on a sliding system so that “the house can be completely opened to the garden”.

The dining room window looks out over the inner courtyard and the door in the rear wall opens onto the covered way leading to the sauna. The kitchens are beside the dining room with rooms for the domestics behind them. There are stairs up from the kitchen to the children´s playroom cum breakfast room and the guest wing. On the upper floor are also the bedrooms and Maire Gullichsen´s painting studio.

More information on Alvar Aalto Foundation website.

Location

Pikkukoivukuja 20, Noormarkku
61.596696, 21.877594

Images

Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea (© Gustaf Welin / Alvar Aalto Museum)
Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea (© Mikko Merckling / Alvar Aalto Museum)
Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea (© Maija Holma / Alvar Aalto Museum)
Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea (© Maija Holma / Alvar Aalto Museum)
Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea (© Maija Holma / Alvar Aalto Museum)
Villa Mairea
Villa Mairea (© Maija Holma / Alvar Aalto Museum)
Site plan, Villa Mairea
Site plan, Villa Mairea (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
Plan with swimming pool, Villa Mairea
Plan with swimming pool, Villa Mairea (© Alvar Aalto Museum)
Floor plan, Villa Mairea
Floor plan, Villa Mairea (© Alvar Aalto Museum)

More projects by authors

Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Koskikeskus Landscape and Urban Plan

  • Oulu
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto Pavilion

  • Venice
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Alajärvi Youth Association Building

  • Alajärvi
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Detmerode Church and Parish Centre

  • Wolfsburg
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Church of the Three Crosses

  • Imatra
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Church of the Cross

  • Lahti
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

The Seinäjoki Defence Corps Building

  • Seinäjoki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Riola Church and Parish Centre

  • Riola
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

The Jyväskylä Defence Corps Building

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Nuora Building (alterations)

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Karpio

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

National Pensions Institute Housing

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Skeppet

  • Tammisaari
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Standard Apartment House

  • Turku
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Casa Lauren

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Kantola House

  • Kotka
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Schönbühl Apartment House and Commercial Centre

  • Lucerne, Switzerland
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Rautatalo Office Building (Iron House)

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Paimio Sanatorium

  • Paimio
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Studio Aalto

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto-Hochhaus

  • Bremen
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Finlandia Hall

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Säynätsalo Town Hall

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Alvar Aalto Museum

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto University Harald Herlin Learning Centre

  • Espoo
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

National Pensions Institute

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto University Undergraduate Centre

  • Espoo
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Viipuri Library

  • Vyborg
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Muurame Church

  • Muurame
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Jyväskylä Workers’ Club

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Cross of the Plains Church (Lakeuden risti)

  • Seinäjoki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

University of Jyväskylä, the Aalto’s Campus

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Muuratsalo Experimental House

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Sunila Pulp Mill and Residential Area

  • Kotka
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Hansaviertel Apartment House

  • Berlin
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aira Apartment Building for Railway Workers

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Aalto University Student Dormitory

  • Espoo
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Maison Louis Carré

  • Bazoches-sur-Guyonne
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Kokkonen

  • Järvenpää
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

The Aalto House

  • Helsinki
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Villa Tammekann

  • Tartu, Estonia
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Viitatorni

  • Jyväskylä
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Terraced House

  • Eura
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

House of Culture

  • Helsinki

Nearby projects

Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Newander’s house (“Signe Castle”)

  • 12.7 km
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Satakunta Museum

  • 12.7 km
Empty placeholder image
Bookmark

Pori City Library

  • 13 km