Mäntyniemi (; ) is one of the three

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

s of the

President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland (; ) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024 Finnish presidential election, 2024. The presi ...

, besides the Presidential Palace and the summer residence Kultaranta. Mäntyniemi was finished in 1993. Four Finnish presidents have lived there: Mauno Koivisto,

Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (, 23 June 1937 – 16 October 2023) was a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland, from 1994 to 2000, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediation, mediator noted for his inte ...

, Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö.

History

When president

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...

resigned in 1982 due to a serious illness, he stayed in the then official residence Tamminiemi until his death in 1986. The Government of Finland set aside Tamminiemi for him and decided to choose a new residence for the president Koivisto. In 1983, of land was bought in the Meilahti district in western

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. Architects Reima and Raili Pietilä, well known for their distinctive organic architecture, won the open architectural competition to design Mäntyniemi.Roger Connah, ''Tango Mäntyniemi''. Edita, Helsinki 1994. Construction started in September 1989 and was completed in 1993.

Features

Mäntyniemi is the first official residence to be built specifically for the

. It is located by the

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

. Steps lead down from the main reception room to a waterfront terrace. There are three buildings on the site. The large main house comprises most of the total floor space of approximately . The main house contains the president's private living quarters and personal office suites, as well as the reception rooms. The latter can be used for meetings, for receiving visitors, and for hosting smaller receptions. There is also a small gatehouse and an outbuilding on the premises. Interior design, the textiles, furnishings, tableware and other items were designed specifically for Mäntyniemi. Competitions for artists were held to choose some of the individual works of art for particular settings or parts of the house. Stone (such as

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

) and wood ( birch) are among the commonly used materials on the inside, along with concrete. The surrounding landscaping was designed by Maj-Lis Rosenbröjer to exist in harmony with the natural vegetation.

Numerical data

* Volume: * Gross floor space: * Net floor space: , of which: ** Private living quarters: ** Personal offices: ** Reception rooms: * Windows: 300 * Corners on the exterior: 212 * Doors: 190, of which 180 are all different In comparison, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

has of floor space.

Presidents who have resided in Mäntyniemi

* Mauno Koivisto (1993–1994) *

(1994–2000) * Tarja Halonen (2000–2012) * Sauli Niinistö (2012–2024)

References

External links