History of Villa Salmenranta
In the 1880’s the prevailing architectural style in Europe was national romanticism. History, nature and peripheral regions were sources of ideas. The Swiss style had a strong influence in central Europe. In Sweden and Norway buildings followed the old Scandinavian tradition and in Russia the old Russian style was predominant. Common ground for all these styles was the respect they had for vernacular architecture. This entailed a strong reference to the national cultural heritage. In buildings this was exemplified by the timber houses without weatherboards. Undressed wood was highlighted indoors as well. One of the central goals was to build a connection between the villa and the nature.
Hietasaari has at least one villa that adheres to this approach. This two-storey villa was built in 1893 by the provincial clerk Vilhelm Rehnbäck. The ground floor of the villa was made for everyday use, whereas the upper floor was reserved for functions and was decorated according to the old Finnish tradition. The building and its immediate surroundings still breathe the idealism of the time they were built in.
As an interesting detail, some inscriptions in the beams of the ground floor were found during the restoration of the villa. According to them, in 1894 the Rehnbäck family moved from Oulu to their villa on the 9th of May. In 1895, they came to the villa on the 28th of May and left on the 9th of September. The inscriptions from 1896 mark the dates 9th of June and 1st of September. Only the inscription marking the date of arrival in 1897 exists; after this the ground floor was decorated with wallpapers. After all, installing wallpapers into a log house was not possible, as the log walls sink and solidify for many years. Four years after the house was built, installing wallpapers was safe.
It is likely that Rehnbäck sold the villa to Rustanius after this. The merchant Illikainen bought the villa from him on 14th of April, 1902. According to an inscription on the wall of the upper floor, the Illikainen family came to stay at the villa for the first time on the 12th of June, 1902. The villa cluster also includes another villa from 1909 that Illikainen had built for him. The building is an example of the art nouveau style, although its principles were similar to those of the villa built by Rehnbäck.
The oldest log villa on the lot is the 1,5-floored log house that has most probably been built during either the 1870’s or the 1880’s. In any case, this building was featured in the map of Oulu from 1889. Apparently, the oldest sauna in Oulu stands in the estate. This old-fashioned smoke sauna is presumably at least 100 years old, which is a respectable accomplishment for a sauna structure.
The Illikainen family possessed Villa Salmenranta for over 90 years. The city of Oulu owned the estate temporarily between 1992 and 1995, until the entrepreneur Veli-Matti Salmenranta bought the villa. After the renovation in 1997 Villa Salmenranta has functioned as a café and as a festivity hall.
Pasi Kovalainen 24.4.2006
Translated by Matti Nikkilä