Honka Kömmeli is traditional yet modern – A custom home with a lot of personality – Oulu Housing Fair 2025

Amid the muted tones of the rest of the Oulu Housing Fair buildings, a red log house stands out in the crowd. The house is Honka Kömmeli, a house model that effortlessly brings together the best bits of Finnish building tradition and elegant modern housing. The building hides more than meets the eye at first glance. Upon further inspection, it opens up like a flower, revealing new petals beneath the outermost ones.

Step on in – Watch this video to get to know the unique Honka Kömmeli

First-time house builders at the Housing Fair

As first-time house builders, Emma and Lassi dove headfirst into the world of construction. “It is rare that land use planning allows you to build in such a nice spot. The plot our house stands on was so nice that it inspired us to build our own house and participate in the Housing Fair”, Lassi says. “I find the whole story quite amusing. We were just testing the waters to see if we could get a plot here”, says Emma. Get a plot they did, and so the couple’s friend, architect Juho Lonkila, designed a unique home for them to call their own. Lassi touchingly describes the home as a reflection of the couple’s personalities.

Honka offered us a turnkey solution, and they recommended we use Pinepro as our contractor, which we did.

Emma, the customer

Working with experienced professionals took the stress out of the equation

Building a house for a housing fair is very demanding when it comes to partners, too.“We could not afford to stretch the building schedule, and we were in a hurry to begin construction. We trusted Honka to help us reach our goal and keep the project on track”, Lassi says. Lassi and Emma feel that it was easy to implement the architect’s plan in collaboration with Honka Design Service.

“Honkarakenne offered us a turnkey solution, and they recommended we use Pinepro as our contractor, which we did”, Emma says. Every surface and corner of the house speaks to skilful craftmanship and attention to detail. “Pinepro’s work is of very high quality, and we can warmly recommend using them as a contractor for building Honka log homes”, Lassi says.

We trusted Honka to help us reach our goal and keep the project on track.

Lassi, the customer

Perfect harmony with choice materials and carefully curated colours

The interior of the house has been deliberately constructed with only a few different materials. The outer walls of the house are made of pine, which was also chosen as the material for fixed furniture. “We wanted to bring pine into the interior, so that the natural atmosphere would continue inside the house, as well. We wanted genuine materials that do not pretend to be something they are not”, Emma explains. The scrubbed concrete floor of the living area further highlights the warm tones of the wood. Each part of the house has its own colour scheme that reflects its purpose, ranging from the soft, muted tones of the bedrooms to the light colour palette in the living areas and the warm terracotta and heat-treated pine of the sauna.

We wanted to bring pine into the interior, so that the natural atmosphere would continue inside the house, as well. We wanted genuine materials that do not pretend to be something they are not.

Emma, the customer

A sauna from another universe

At the beginning of the project, Emma and Lassi dreamed of a traditional sauna building outside the house. They ended up partially getting their wish. The sauna is connected to the house, but accessed through the terrace.

“We wanted a sauna out of this world”, Lassi says. The couple certainly succeeded in building one; the sauna was inspired by Japanese bath houses and traditional Finnish drying barn saunas that were used as saunas, living quarters and spaces for drying grain. “Construction is self-expression. I think each house is a work of art and a reflection of the builder’s personality”, Lassi says.

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