Kultaranta ( sv, Gullranda; ) is the summer residence of the

president of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...

. It is in the district of Kultaranta on the island of

Luonnonmaa Luonnonmaa is an island in the city of Naantali, in south-western Finland. It forms most of the city's area, but only a fraction of its population as it is rather sparsely populated. It previously belonged to the rural municipality of Naantali ('' ...

, in

Naantali Naantali (; sv, Nådendal) is a town in southwestern Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important tourist centre of the country. The municipality has a population of (), and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, west ...

. The

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

manor house is surrounded by of park, belonging to the property. The President of the Republic's summer residence, Kultaranta, stands in 54-hectare grounds in Naantali on the southwest coast. As well as the granite-built house, the complex includes numerous outbuildings and greenhouses, and a park. Kultaranta's original owner was the businessman

Alfred Kordelin Alfred Kordelin (6 November 1868, Rauma – 7 November 1917, Mommila, Hausjärvi) was a Finnish industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur, and a major philanthropist. Kordelin was one of the richest Finnish entrepreneurs of his time. Kordeli ...

, who had a manor house built for himself in 1914. It was designed by the architect

Lars Sonck Lars Eliel Sonck (10 August 1870 – 14 March 1956) was a Finnish architect. He graduated from Helsinki Polytechnic Institute in 1894 and immediately won a major design competition for a church in Turku, St Michael's Church, ahead of many esta ...

. When Kordelin died in 1917 the manor's ownership shifted to the

University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...

and, in 1922, the

Finnish Parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

voted to acquire it for use as the president's summer residence. The ground floor contains the reception rooms and private apartments. Upstairs are the bedrooms and guestrooms. Marble steps lead from the ground floor to the tower, from which there are views of Naantali and the inshore islands. The parks around the manor, containing approximately a thousand square metres of

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

and a garden with 3,500

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s called ''Medaljonki'' ('medallion'), are open to the public. The scent and colour of these roses are at their peak in the middle of the summer, when the President and family and their guests come to Naantali for the holidays. Tours in the garden are organised by the City of Naantali's tourist service. Kultaranta's Park has been described as a "mini-

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

". The parkland to the north of Kultaranta is in practically a natural state, though a few sandy pathways have been built there, and the woodland is kept in good condition. Kultaranta has about of greenhouses. The garden supplies the President's household with both flowers and vegetables all year round.

Gallery

References

External links

*Kultarant

with pictures (in English) Presidential residences Official residences in Finland Manor houses in Finland Palaces in Finland Gardens in Finland Naantali Buildings and structures in Southwest Finland Lars Sonck buildings National Romantic architecture in Finland Art Nouveau houses Art Nouveau government buildings Houses completed in 1914

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links