Lepikko Cottage

Lepikko Cottage in Pielavesi is the birthplace of President Urho Kekkonen. The cottage was established in the mid‑1800s, when it became one of the 73,000 crofts in Finland’s Grand Duchy.

Urho Kekkonen’s father, Juho Kekkonen, acquired the right to live in the cottage in the early spring of 1900 and moved there in the summer with his wife, Emilia, from Mikkeli to Pielavesi. Their firstborn son was born on 3 September of the same year and was given the name Urho Kaleva at baptism.

The Kekkonen family lived in Lepikko Cottage until late 1906, after which they moved first to Kuopio, then to Lapinlahti, Iisalmi, and finally in 1911 to Kajaani. President Kekkonen therefore spent the first six years of his childhood in Pielavesi.

Throughout its existence, Lepikko Cottage has gone through many phases. The ownership of the cottage has changed several times, as has its appearance. Initially, the cottage was a single‑room smoke cabin, but already in the 1860s a chamber was added. When the Kekkonen family moved in in 1900, the house underwent a major renovation, likely accelerated by the birth of their first child, Urho Kaleva. The smoke‑room stove was replaced with a fireplace‑stove with a chimney, which Juho Kekkonen built himself, and which included a stovetop plate. The walls were hewn into their present round‑log form, and the ceiling beams were removed from the main room. The windows were also modified into their current shape.

The historical value of Lepikko Cottage was recognised once the “boy of the cottage” had become a multiple‑term Prime Minister of Finland, and eventually the country’s President in 1956. The Lepikko Foundation purchased the cottage in 1966. In the same year, the cottage was restored to its early‑1900s appearance and opened as a museum on President Kekkonen’s birthday, 3 September 1966.

The restoration was carried out under the supervision of the Finnish Heritage Agency, aiming with scientific accuracy to reproduce the cottage’s early‑20th‑century appearance.

The furnishings of the cottage have been selected to represent the items typical of similar homes of that era. Some pieces are original items belonging to the Kekkonen family.

Lepikko Cottage has operated as a museum continuously since 1966, and it has been visited by hundreds of thousands of people from Finland and abroad.

Address:
Urho Kekkosentie 119, 72400 Pielavesi