Wiljala

History

In 1756, the house is mentioned under the name Krokun and its owner was Maria Krook. In 1800 the name was changed to Wiljala and the owner was the bailiff Ephraim Ilvan the Younger. He had more than a barrel of land and an acre of meadow.

Fire insurances

The fire insurance was taken in 1847 by merchant H. J. Bergström the elder. The insurance was taken out on the combined plots 32 and 33, which were then owned by the same owner. There were two residential buildings along Kuninkaankatu, one on each part of the plot. In the middle of the plot was a long building overlooking both plots. Along the river there was another building on both plots. There were two outbuildings on the eastern boundary of the plot, on plot 33, and another building in the middle of the northern part of the plot, making a total of seven buildings.

The residential building on the east side of Kuninkaankatu (plot 33) was a wooden building made of new logs in 1824. The building was lined in 1842, painted with oil paint and was in good condition. Holstein tiles had been used for the roof. The building had 15 rooms: an entrance hall, a steward’s room, a lounge, four chambers and a kitchen, three closets and two pantries, one pantry and one glass-fronted pantry. There were 13 six-paned windows and nine attic windows. The exterior porch had a canopy supported by columns. The canopy and its surroundings were oil painted. There were nine semi-transparent doors. There were also five panelled doors, which were semi-transparent and oil-painted on the inside. There was also one simple board door and two board doors in the attic closet. Three rooms had French wallpaper, skirting boards and painted paper ceilings. Two rooms had paper wallpaper, baseboards, moldings and ceiling tiles. The ceilings were papered and painted. The kitchen had paper wallpaper and baseboards. The tiled stoves were one painted tile, two round and painted, one white glazed, one brown glazed and one painted column tiled. There was also a kitchen stove. The building had two chimneys. On the top of the chimney were water gutters of tinned iron cable and four downpipes of the same material.

Modification drafts

The oldest modification drawing is probably from the early 1880s and might be by Joh. Ca. Leander. The drawing concerns both the buildings in Wiljala and Auleen. Along the street, both buildings had their own double-gabled residential building and a long east-west oriented outbuilding in the middle of the courtyard, extending to the sides of both plots. There was also a small building in the middle of the plot, extending to both plots, and a long single outbuilding along the river, and on the Auleen plot an outbuilding on the eastern boundary of the plot. Now the plan was to connect the buildings on the roof side by building two rooms between them. The building in the middle of the courtyard had a double-height section in the eastern part with a baking room and sauna in the middle and a corridor in the middle with access from both sides of the building. On the west side of the building there had been two living rooms and two dormitories. Now the intention was to convert the remaining rooms into living quarters. There were two rooms and a hallway with a closet at the back. The building was also to be raised from the attic. The street-side building is described as being boarded up with wide horizontal boarding. The windows in the attic were slanted and four-pane. Above the three entrances to the courtyard building, diagonal attic windows are also drawn. There is a plan of the site from 1892 showing the buildings on the adjacent plots. Both plots have a residential building with a porch along the street. In the central part of the plots are buildings parallel to the main buildings, the one on the Aulen plot was a house and the one on the Wiljala plot was a dormitory. Along the river there is a continuous row of outbuildings in several parts, including a barn and stables. On the eastern boundary of the Aulen property there was a building still standing, which is mentioned as an ice cellar. In the centre of the plot is a building consisting of a sauna and two toilets built together. Apparently the sauna building was to be replaced by a row of outbuildings on the Wiljala side of the plot. Most of the sauna was located on the Aulen plot. In addition to the sauna, a chamber was added to the building.

August Helenius’ proposal for a new façade for Wiljala dates from 1895. The façade was given a richly decorated neo-renaissance look. The windows were four-paned.

There is a plan from 1898 for a partial alteration of the Aulen street façade. The drawing clearly shows that only the lower part of the lining was to be changed. Below the windows was to be a list, and below that vertical boarding, and below the marginal windows a field of cassette dividers. The windows became T-pane and above them was a neo-Renaissance style trim. The alteration drawing for the building in the centre of the courtyard also dates from the same year. The building was a semi-detached house with an additional chamber at one end. The porch was converted into a kitchen.

Alteration plans for the Aulen plot dating from 1900 show that the outbuilding row was not demolished and the sauna was built entirely on the Aulen side of the plot. In fact, the sauna was added to the basement floor of the building, with two small rooms and a kitchen on top. A new, small entrance hall and kitchen were to be added to the street-side building and the hall was to be divided in two. The intention is to have two apartments instead of the former one. The building was originally of the central hall type. In the centre, on the street side, was the hall, on the courtyard side the kitchen and hall were side by side, and at each end of the building there were two chambers. The chambers at the two ends were intended to be used for commercial purposes. A shop door was made in place of a window in both. The previous façade drawing showed three windows in the hall. Now, when the room was divided, there would be one more window The design was by Arvi Forsman.

They also wanted to make changes to the residential building in the middle of the Aulen courtyard. The premises were divided into two apartments, one with a room and kitchen, the other with two rooms and a kitchen. Both apartments were accessed through the same porch and hallway, but each had its own kitchen entrance from the other side of the building. The location of the shop entrances was changed in 1904 and 1919. In 1921, two display windows were added to the street frontage.

In 1903, alterations were made to the building in the middle of the Wiljala property. The former dormitory building had been used for residential purposes before, as the location of the kitchen, among other things, was changed. A kitchen and three rooms were added. A porch was built in front of it, the height of the building, with a triple roof. The windows were six-paned, the panelling was tripartite and the window surround mouldings were fairly simple. The design was by Arvi Forsman.

In 1907, changes were made to the main building of Wiljala. The porch on the courtyard side was extended. The extension was done in the old style, using the same type of multi-sash windows that had been in the porch before. The drawing shows that the wide empire boarding had been retained on the courtyard side. The windows were six-paned, although the drawing shows that they were divided into four sections initially, with the lower panes further divided into two. The building had a central hall base.

In 1921, a stone outbuilding was planned for the Wiljala plot on the riverside. It would have housed a bakehouse and kitchen, as well as storage and toilets. However, the plan never came to fruition.

In 1953, central heating was installed in Wiljala and most of the ovens were removed. In 1962, central heating was installed in the Aulen buildings, but not all the ovens were dismantled. At this stage, the Kadunvarski building consisted of two adjoining commercial apartments in the eastern part of the building and an apartment with three rooms and a kitchen. The outbuilding still had two apartments.

In 1928, the outbuildings of the Wiljala were renovated. The old outbuilding, which extended to the riverside and the eastern boundary of the plot, was replaced by a new building on the riverside. It included a storeroom, two woodworking rooms and a toilet block. In 1940, a stone sauna section was added to the outbuilding, on the site where the toilets had previously stood. The latrine was moved to the corner of the warehouse at the other end of the building.

In 1957, amenities were added to the small residential building in Wiljala. At the same time, the kitchen was relocated and the former kitchen was converted into a hallway with a toilet room. The building’s façade no longer had a gabled porch, but a small porch under the building’s extended roof slab. The main building was altered in 1962. The building was divided into two apartments. One had three rooms with a kitchen and a large hallway, the other three rooms and a kitchenette. The smaller apartment had a surface area of 50 m2 and the larger one 78 m2. Small toilets were installed in both apartments and the kitchens were fitted with kitchen sinks. The ovens had disappeared, except for the wood stove in the larger apartment.

In 1989, modifications were made to the building along the street and to the residential building in the courtyard. In the Kuninkaankatu building, the old hall was recombined into a single room and the kitchen was modernised. The following year, the attic rooms were converted into living quarters. The courtyard building was thoroughly renovated. The porch was renovated and insulated to provide a place for washing facilities. The kitchen was modernised and the attic was used as a warm workshop and storage room. The plans were drawn up by Jukka Koivula.

Current situation

Residential building
Short-cornered residential building from 1828, neo-renaissance redecoration 1895 (August Helenius), old ribbed horizontal planking on the courtyard facade, hipped roof, tiled roof from the mid-19th century, display window

Residential building in the middle of the courtyard
Elongated residential building, neo-renaissance lining 1903 (Arvi Forsman)

Outbuilding
Vertical planked outbuilding from 1928, sauna added in 1940.