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From piggery to a museum court

HISTORY OF HEVOSSILTA

In the middle of the old rural landscape of Forssa lies Hevossilta, an entity consisting of two courtyards of different eras with museum buildings, stable restaurant, smoke saunas, extensive courtyards and holiday cottages.

In the area of the Hevossilta farm there is known to have been old mansions and a small smoke pot at the site of the present museum yard. Later the farm became the side space of a mansion owned by Forssa cotton mill where bad livestock, sick animals and horses were taken care of from the 19th century until 1945 when the farm was passed over to the present family.

THE TAMPERE ROAD WAS BUILT

THE FIRST TELEPHONE LINE IN FINLAND

The Tampere road which runs through Hevossilta is the road that factory owner Wahren constructed from Forssa cotton mill to Matku station where the cotton bales were transported by horse to Forssa.

The first telephone line in Finland led next to the road to the factory office in December 1878. The station was called when the bales arrived. At that time the transportation was expensive and the job seekers travelled generally on foot from Matku to Forssa. The monotonic trip lasted for three hours. There was no settlement around but it was enough to look at strange telephone wires with poles attached with number plates showing the distance.

NEW MAIN BUILDING

A PLACE FOR THE MERO FAMILY

The farm was passed over from Forssa manor to the Carelian immigrants Ida and Joel Mero who came from Muola. They built a new main building in 1947. The next summer their son Viljo and Mirjam Vinnikainen were married. They became the next hosts of the farm in 1956.

In 1988 the farm was passed over to their son Veikko and his spouse Raija Sundblom who brought the Hämälä spirit into the Carelian house as a fourth generation Forssa born.

FRESH WINDS IN HEVOSSILTA

FROM A CATTLE FARM TO PIGGERY

The farm was a typical ranch in the 1950’s where cows, pigs, hens, sheep and horses were raised. In the 1970s the farm’s production line became piggery and other livestock had to go.

Pig production continued until the mid-1980s after which Raija and Veikko Mero began to run the farm towards the EU era.

FAMILY BUSINESS

THE FARM TO A MUSEUM AND FOR TOURISM

By the turn of the 21st century a great change took place on the farm. Constructing it to a museum and tourist farm started and replaced got a dozen of old log buildings. Raija’s collecting hobby and the construction skills of Veikko has over the years created an entity of Hevossilta where the peasant artefacts of different eras are placed in numerous museum buildings. All buildings are furnished according to the spirit of the time.

The doughters Katja and Jutta are also involved in developing the farm for tourism.

THE OLDEST BUILDINGS FROM 1750

A COMPLETE ENTIRETY

The main building of the Museum yard, the Flink Tower from 1805, is Forssa’s oldest surviving residential building. Around twenty old buildings have been moved to its surrounding: a windmill, a granary, smoke saunas, barns, store houses and sheds, the oldest from the 1750s. The old timber cowhouse has been transformed into the atmospheric “Tallitupa – Stable Cabin”, where our restaurant now operates.

The farm’s old forests are linked to the state forest protection program. There are 6 holiday cottages, a sauna and wicket built in the forest area. The farm can now accommodate 20-30 people at a time.