Idyll, Rural cottages – Riina Ahtola & Kati Pilli-Sihvola

Texts: Riina Ahtola
Pictures: Kati Pilli-Sihvola
Editing: Elina Lähteenmäki
Image processing: Viola Virtamo
Layout design: Marja Wickman
Language Finnish

The gravel of the courtyards crumbles under your feet, the apple trees in bloom around you and the lichen-patterned stone steps encourage you to take a step up. Double doors painted deep red open, inviting you to go further.

Idyll - Country houses takes you where a piece of earth is also a piece of heaven. All ten families in the book have moved to a country where it's good to breathe. The common thing is a longing to be close to nature and the need to see things in a new way. Forget the rush, give your loved ones more hours, a chance for peace and quiet.

Creaking plank floors, fire-protecting wood stoves, brick walls that have seen life and other wonderful and original things await their loyal owners in empty log houses, farms, mansions or public schools. The destinations of this trip are Iitti, Kirkkonummi, Kitee, Mäntyharju, Numminen, Pirkanmaa, Raasepori, Rajamäki, Verla and Yppäri.

Riina Ahtola and Kati Pilli-Sihvola, who are behind the book, are united by their love for the countryside and its homes, which, in addition to beauty, enchant with their stories of lived life.