Company guest accommodation in Joenniemi
JULY 2023
The spaces at Joenniemi Manor first floor were utilised as guest accommodation of G. A. Serlachius Ltd for some twenty years from early 1960s to the end of June 1983.
After Gösta Serlachius died in 1942, Joenniemi Manor was bequeathed for his son Bror Serlachius. Gösta’s spouse Ruth Serlachius continued to live at Joenniemi. Three rooms on the ground floor of the manor were utilised in museum operations since 1945, but the Fine Arts Foundation was planning to implement a new museum building according to Gösta Serlachius wishes. The plans were given a new direction early 1960s when Mrs. Serlachius moved to Helsinki, and Joenniemi’s future was under consideration.
The Fine Arts Foundation wanted to have more of its works on show, but in 1961 it seemed likely that the whole manor would be rented out to G. A. Serlachius company for their guest accommodation. At the end, the matter was resolved in favour of the Fine Arts Foundation and the museum. G. A. Serlachius rented the Joenniemi of Bror Serlachius, and subsequently, in addition to the three museum rooms, the company then also sublet a library, small dining room and a lobby for the foundation to be used for museum operations.
The foundation acquired the Joenniemi manor in 1972, but the rooms on the first floor were furthermore sublet for company guest accommodation. The company paid the rent by maintaining the estate. In 1974 the maintaining cost were 47 000 Finnish marks, a sum about the same in Euros today. From time to time, it was discussed whether to build a museum or respectively whether to build a new company guest accommodation or to relocate it away from Joenniemi.
A new accommodation for guests was pointed out in Villa Silva early 1980s, and also Joenniemi’s first floor became available for museum operations. In 1982, Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation reached a decision to renovate Joenniemi Manor due to the 50th anniversary the following year. The building was documented by photographing. Drawings made by Architect Jarl Eklund, the designer of the manor, were borrowed from the Museum of Finnish Architecture and photocopied for renovation. Old correspondence was studied, as well.
Joenniemi Manor’s lease with G. A. Serlachius company continued until 1983, and after that, the renovation of the manor begun. Early September, the museum was closed and cleared. The works were stored at Honkahovi. The museum was opened early June in 1984, newly renovated and nearly doubled in area.
”North-eastern parts of the region Häme North got a museum of international level”, said one of the many articles then published in newspapers.
Helena Hänninen
Curator
