This Cozy Finnish Home Would Not Be Complete Without a Sauna

The suburb of Oulunkylä, less than five miles north of central Helsinki, is home to a mixture of wooden villas, row houses, and concrete apartment buildings. On a sloping plot next to her parents’ home, Vilma and her husband, Juho, wanted to build a structure that could fit in with its surroundings but feel completely their own. Working with architect Tuomas Siitonen, the couple had a few requirements going into the project: The home needed to be made of wood, preserve the views from the house next door, and have a separate living space for Vilma’s grandmother.