We are both academic persons having PhDs from the University of Tokyo and have spent most of our working lives in research and teaching positions in Japan, China and Finland. Jari has also had a busy company life from which he is now about to retire.
This is our retirement dream - to still create an active life after being too old to compete with younger people in academia or industry, but not too old just to lay down. When our kids are grown up and the nest has been empty, we also need some meaningful doings to fill our time.
We love various cultures, gourmet food, and most of all, peaceful and beautiful Finnish nature. Especially Lumin is enthusiastic about nature conservation and environmental protection, and she loves to do farming of our organic food.
Lumin is skilled at cooking and baking, so you can enjoy home cooked food and baked sweeties. Jari is skillful with his hands and loves to build and fix things. Every year the estate gets more technical stuff, which he proudly presents to anyone who is interested.
So, we have a perfect environment to welcome everyone to stay at Pinecrest and enjoy the surroundings not too far from Helsinki and close to Porvoo's historic city. Please let us know what you prefer, and we will tailor a program to your preferences. We will make your stay as memorable as possible.
We can provide guidance in Japanese, Chinese, English and Finnish, so no need to worry too much about language or cultural barrier, when staying with us.
Lumin & Jari, 2022
Pinecrest Villa has been officially open to the public for two years now, and we are still in the process of building our yard and renovating it. We would like to thank all the professionals and amateurs who have been involved in the renovation and redesigning of the courtyard, thanks to their contribution, the courtyard of Pinecrest Villa has become more and more unique, distinctive as well as popular. We feel it is very important to share their designs and works.
Porvoon Kivi Oy has laid the stone paving (slate rock) and greeneries. They also implemented the gate pillars. The design of the areas is pretty much our own. The yard stones are Liuskemestarit's Karhu (Paljakan Pronssi) Puolanka municipical In Kainuu. Paljakka is the name of stony hill (in Finnish “vaara”), and there is a National Park and a small ski resort.
The gate has been designed by me and Jyrki Eklund, who also made it. He has a small Taide Takomo in Sipoo. He has implemented also the other fence elements on the wall. The motor system is from Italy, Nice. The LED lights have been designed and implemented by us and they are from Ledvance.
The gate pillars and the surrounding wall is made of Ikikivi's Perustuskivi. This is from Nilsiä municipal in Savo. The same stones have been used here and there elsewhere. It is characterized by the rough surface and exceptional light color as a Finnish rock. Grill pergolas is my original design. It started from a hexagonal shape where from the dining area was “pulled out”, the middle area stretched on one side, and the back side “pushed in” a little bit. Then pillars were placed at each corner and connected with horizontal logs. I might have received some influence from Japan. However, the structural importance was the middle pilar that holds the roof. I was lucky to find a log artist to implement my vision. Eetu Puurtinen (Outopuu) from Tuulos. That was very hard work. The real jackpot for me was his proposal to use Mainiemen Kartano's old larch logs within the construction. The center pillar is 4m high and more than 100 years old larch log. Similar logs have been used for the floor and the furniture there. However, the smaller logs are from our land, cut and peeled off by us. The lamps are bought from Netherlands (Nostalux NL) made in Holland or Italy for marine usage. The electricity work has been done by ESV-Sähkö Oy. The marquises are Italian made (Gibus) and installed by Artic Store.
The lamps in the visitors' parking area are from Konstmide, Sweden. The Pinecrest Villa logo designed by Dana Huston-Chen, USA that is also included into the gate has been designed by Keyi, China.
- Written by Jari Vaario, 2024
