Kesäranta

Kesäranta Villa Bjälbo
Kesäranta is the residence of thePrime Minister of Finland.
Kesäranta Location inHelsinki,Finland.
General information
Status	In use
Type	Official residence
Address	Kesärannantie 1 00250 Helsinki
Town or city	Helsinki
Country	Finland
Coordinates	60.184544°N 24.906152°E/60.184544; 24.906152
Current tenants	Prime Minister of Finland
Completed	1873
Inaugurated	1904
Owner	Finnish Government
Technical details
Floor count	2
Website
valtioneuvosto.fi/en

Kesäranta(lit. 'summer shore',Swedish:Villa Bjälbo) is theofficial residenceof thePrime Minister of Finland,located in Helsinki in the neighborhood ofMeilahti,overlookingSeurasaarenselkä.

The residence is owned by theFinnish GovernmentthroughSenate Properties.The Meilahti neighborhood where Kesäranta is located is a zone ofprohibited airspace.

History

Pre-government ownership

Kesäranta was built in 1873 as the summer villa of architectFrans Ludvig Calonius,under the Swedish name,Bjälbo.At the time of its construction, Meilahti lay outside the boundaries of Helsinki. Initially, Kesäranta was a two-storey wooden villa, but in 1887, after it was acquired byCarl Robert Ignatius,a cashier at theBank of Finland,the building was altered to the designs ofElia Heikel,who added a 20-metre tower and a bayside veranda to the building.

Finland's Governor-General's residence

In 1904, Kesäranta was purchased by the State to serve as the summer residence of theGovernor-General of Finland.ArchitectJac Ahrenbergwas commissioned to make the necessary changes to the building and its furnishings. A new kitchen wing was attached to the main building and a glazed veranda was built on to the side of the building facing the sea. The villa served as the summer residence of Governor-Generals Obolenski, Gerhard, Boeckmann, andSeyn.

Kesäranta during Finnish independence

Following Finland'sdeclaration of its independencein 1917 and theFinnish Civil Warin 1918, the German generalRüdiger von der Goltzlived in Kesäranta briefly.Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheimalso used Kesäranta as an occasional residence during his term as Regent, orProtector of State,from 1918 to 1919.

Since 1919, Kesäranta has served as the Prime Minister's official residence.

In the summertime,the governmentholds its informal evening sessions at Kesäranta. These take place on Wednesday evenings and date back to the 1930s, when Prime MinisterAimo Cajanderadopted the practice of inviting ministers to Kesäranta to discuss and prepare matters to be handled in the Government plenary session on Thursday.

A thorough renovation of the main building took place first in the 1950s and again in the 1980s. The main building was restored to look as it did in the beginning of the century, including the rebuilding of the tower and the veranda, which had been removed in the 1950s. The courtyard of Kesäranta includes a seaside sauna, a maintenance building, a guard's house, a pavilion, a jetty, and a tennis court.

In 2017, a blue sign reading "100" was installed on the yard of Kesäranta to commemorate the centennial year of Finnish independence.

Prime ministers who have resided in Kesäranta

Prime Minister of FinlandSanna Marinand Prime Minister of SwedenUlf Kristerssonheld negotiations in Kesäranta 2022

• Aimo Cajander
• Jukka Rangell
• Edwin Linkomies
• Urho Kekkonen
• Mauno Koivisto
• Esko Aho
• Paavo Lipponen
• Matti Vanhanen
• Mari Kiviniemi
• Sanna Marin
• Petteri Orpo

See also

• Kultaranta
• Mäntyniemi
• Tamminiemi
• Prime Minister of Finland
• Finnish Government
• Politics of Finland