A custom Honka house – A beautiful, sustainable and durable wooden home

A beautiful, functional log home stands on the edge of a new residential area in Klaukkala, dominated by detached houses. It is the long-term home of Maija and Tuomas and their children, designed specifically for them by Honka Design Service.

Almost exactly one year after the start of construction, the family of four are sitting on the sofa in the beautiful living room of their new home, reminiscing about how they got there.
– ‘We started designing our home a year and a half ago, with the construction starting a year ago, and now we have been living here for several months’, says Tuomas.

Visiting the Honka home of Maija & Tuomas – Watch the video!

A home made of carbon-binding CLT logs

Once the decision to build a house was made, the couple did not even consider anything other than a log home.

– ‘I am drawn to the aesthetics of log houses and their cosy and warm atmosphere. Before we started our project, I had followed a few social media users posting on log homes. I had also read about clean indoor air in log houses’, says Maija.

– ‘I’m originally from the countryside, and I have a lot to do with the forest and nature through my hobbies and work, so I’ve always wanted to build a log house. As a building material, carbon-binding logs are attractive, strong, long-lasting and ecological’, Tuomas adds.

As a building material, carbon-binding logs are attractive, strong, long-lasting and ecological.

Tuomas, the customer

Collaboration between Honka Design Service and an interior designer

Tuomas and Maija chose Honka as their house supplier for practical reasons after careful research, comparisons and competitive bidding.

– ‘We had prepared a plan for the layout ourselves. We looked into different log house manufacturers’ capacity and methods for executing this plan. Finally, we asked for offers from the best suppliers before deciding on Honka’, says Tuomas.

The first step was to agree on a design service with Honka. An architect transformed the idea sketched by Maija and Tuomas on graph paper into a plan for a home. Once it was completed, the couple were very happy with the result.

– ‘All the suppliers quoted similar prices, but Honka’s overall package seemed the best’, explains Tuomas.

– ‘And because we wanted to bring in interior designer Maru Hautala and we also wanted to do a lot of things ourselves, the package offered by Honka was definitely the most flexible and most suitable for us’, Maija adds.

In the end, only a few changes were made to the couple’s original sketch during the design process and all their wishes could be met. Overall, the planning went smoothly and without any problems.

– ‘It was also great that the cost of the design service was deducted from the price of the house’, Tuomas notes.

It was also great that the cost of the design service was deducted from the price of the house.

Tuomas, the customer

A log home for three decades

From the outset, the couple’s goal was to design and build the house so meticulously that there is nothing they would want to do differently.

– ‘Our starting point was that we will only do this once. We plan to live here for 30 years or longer. Our children can grow up here’, says Tuomas.

– ‘We hired Maru precisely because we wanted everything to be done right the first time. We wanted to avoid making wrong choices that would require fixing or changing later. In hindsight, having an interior designer was the best investment in the whole project’, adds Maija.

A successful process and quick completion

The building project proceeded quickly and without any major complications. The couple was lucky with their timing as it was a quiet period for the industry and talented professionals were easy to find.

– ‘Scheduling and project management meant a lot of work, but not a week went by without progress taking place on the site’, Tuomas recalls.

Although many people thought it would be challenging for the couple to start such a project when the children were very young, Maija and Tuomas felt the timing was just right.

– ‘Because I was at home, I was able to take care of day-to-day chores there. Tuomas, on the other hand, was able to concentrate on coordinating the construction, in addition to working’, explains Maija.

– ‘But I have to say we sat on the sofa on quite a few evenings after the children had gone to bed, going over and commenting on the electrical plans and so on’, Tuomas continues.

Tailored design from floor to ceiling

The family is extremely happy with their new home, finding it even more stunning than they ever imagined. The meticulously executed design meets every possible need and is pleasing to the eye. All the fixtures and even the bookcases were made to measure by a carpenter in colour tones that match the house’s colour scheme.

– ‘Having a carpenter make your fixed furniture to measure sounds more expensive than it actually is. Compared to high-quality off-the-shelf fixtures, we saved up to tens of thousands of euros’, Tuomas notes.

Maru Hautala’s design and the log house’s wooden surfaces came together exactly as the family wanted. The home has a harmonious, warm and calming atmosphere.

– ‘Now that I am back at work after my parental leave, I realise how wonderful it is to come home from work. Even though there are all kinds of day-to-day chores to take care of, the atmosphere is always calm and it’s easy to breathe here’, says Maija.

The world’s first fossil-free steel roof

The building practice instructions for the single-family home district in Klaukkala encourage people building a home in the area to favour ecological solutions. This suited Tuomas and Maija more than well. They wanted sustainability to be considered in all the solutions where it was possible. The couple chose logs as the building material and geothermal energy as the heating method and designed waste sorting and recycling so that they are as hassle-free to carry out as possible. They also arranged transport during construction effectively, ensuring that lorries brought full loads to the site instead of just a few items. One of the solutions that is more ecological than the standard options is the roof.

– ‘Honka suggested that we could have the first detached home with Ruukki’s fossil-free steel roof. When I looked into the matter and realised it was no greenwashing but a truly sustainable alternative, we were of course excited. Sustainability and durability are important values for us and it’s great to be the first in the world in something’, says Tuomas, laughing.

Building facts:

• Residents: Maija and Tuomas and their two children
• Design: Honka Design Service based on the couple’s wishes and sketches
• Log: Non-settling Honka lamellar log FXL 204 mm, zero corner, spruce
• Interior Design: Maru Hautala
• Floor area: 173 m²
• Floor space: 160.5 m²
• Rooms: 3 bedrooms, a study, an open-plan kitchen and living room, 2 toilets, a bathroom, a sauna and a utility room
• Roof: Ruukki’s fossil-free steel roof
• Log surface treatment indoors: Sanding + Teknos Helo Solana wax colour T3071
• Log surface treatment outdoors: Tikkurila Vinha colour Teknos 7251
• Fixtures: Carpentry shop Puusepänliike Astikainen on the basis of plans by Maru Hautala
• Tiles: Terrantinta Norse colour fog 90x90cm, Sartoria Polveri 5×25
• Sliding doors: Liune
• Location: Klaukkala, Nurmijärvi
• Year of construction: 2024
• Honka ID: 4017281

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