Mäntyniemi (; ) is one of the three

official residence An official residence is the residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-related functions. ...

s of the President of Finland, besides the Presidential Palace and the summer residence Kultaranta. Mäntyniemi was finished in 1993. Four Finnish presidents have lived there:

Mauno Koivisto Mauno Henrik Koivisto (; 25 November 1923 – 12 May 2017) was a Finnish politician who served as the ninth president of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as the country's prime minister twice, from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 1 ...

Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (; born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work. Ahtisa ...

Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisa ...

, and the incumbent 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 1981 due to a serious illness, he stayed in the then official residence

Tamminiemi Tamminiemi ( sv, Villa Ekudden; ) is a villa and house museum located in the Meilahti district of Helsinki, Finland. It was one of the three official residences of the President of Finland, from 1940 to 1982. From 1956, until his death, it served ...

until his death in 1986. The

Government of Finland sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , coun ...

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 Meilahti (in Swedish Mejlans) is a neighbourhood of Helsinki between Mannerheimintie (the main entrance road to Helsinki) and a bay named Seurasaarenselkä. Most of the houses in Meilahti were built in the 1930s and 1940s. Meilahti is home to ove ...

district in western

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

. Architects

Reima and Raili Pietilä Frans Reima Ilmari Pietilä (25 August 1923 – 26 August 1993) was a Finnish architect and theorist. He did most of his work together with his wife Raili Pietilä (Raili Inkeri Marjatta née Paatelainen, 15 August 1926 – 16 May 2021); after 19 ...

, well known for their distinctive

organic architecture Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furn ...

, 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 President of Finland. It is located by the sea. 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 ( 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 under ...

) and wood (

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

) 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. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

has of floor space.

Presidents who have resided in Mäntyniemi

(1993–1994) *

(1994–2000) *

(2000–2012) * Sauli Niinistö (2012–present)

References

External links

Presentation of Mäntyniemi on the president's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantyniemi Official residences in Finland Buildings and structures in Helsinki Politics of Finland Presidential residences Reima and Raili Pietilä buildings Meilahti 1993 establishments in Finland