Residents of Villa no. 14 from 1958-2000 After Signe Blom’s death in 1958, the villa was occupied by tenants. The rent control which sprang from the housing shortage meant that the house had to be divided into several flats and each tenant was allocated a certain amount of space for a fixed rent. The rental agreements were made for fixed periods. The house was owned by the Blom heirs, who spent the income on refurbishing the large, old building. The building did, nonetheless, become rather dilapidated and the heirs sold the house to Niilo Koljonen, who was also well aware of the cultural and historical value of the Linnunlaulu villas. In 1983, Niilo Koljonen let rooms upstairs and downstairs in the villa to young working people and students. He himself remained living upstairs, while the rest of the house was occupied by six tenants altogether. The house had no running water; the water was drawn from the well. The toilet was a composting one, which was emptied in the nearby cesspool. In the summer, a shower was built in the garden safe from prying eyes thanks to the wild vegetation. The rooms were heated by stoves and portable radiators. The house is linked with another tragic death. One of the upstairs rooms was let to a couple who were expecting their first baby. One winter evening in 1983, their lives took an unexpected turn as the man was shot near the villa in Tokoinranta, on a small walking bridge. He died on the way to the hospital. The perpetrator was never caught and the crime is still unsolved. By 1990, the turnover of tenants was high. Niilo 46 Koljonen, the owner, still lived in the upstairs flat. There was still no running water and the heating was by wood and heaters. The large upstairs hall was standing empty and cold and some of the windows had been boarded up. The downstairs was unoccupied. Niilo Koljonen sold the house to the City Real Estate Department in 1996. The house stayed unoccupied and without heating for some time. The lack of maintenance resulted in extensive damage throughout the building, including some parts of the foundation. Even the balconies on the south side of the house had been badly damaged and demolished. Despite being deserted for a couple of years, the building was, however, deemed sturdy enough and the interiors relatively well preserved. Nor was there any doubt as to the cultural and historical significance of the building. The renovation planning was initiated in autumn 1997, but no decision on the eventual use of the building was made at that stage. The aim was to repair the villa respecting its original character and restoring its inherent value without overlooking the surroundings either. When planning the future use of the house, specific considerations were the central location of the building and the fact that this was the only one of the remaining villas that would still lend itself to reviving the traditional villa culture. This lead to the idea of opening the villa to public use. The City Real Estate Department found a suitable tenant, the City of Helsinki Cultural Office, in 1998. After the renovation was completed in spring 2000, the Cultural Office established a foreign
Elaintarhan huvilahistoriikki
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