A comfortable log cottage

The new built holiday cottage Hirvimäki is situated in the forest near the local road Toijantie. This road leads from Taipalsaari to Vehkataipale. The cottage is built to offer a lot of privacy. There is a parking place and a lawn around the house and 2 ha of forest that belongs to the property. Beside the cottage on the right side there is a clearing in the wood and you find a great variety of mosses. It takes decades for nature to cover the rock with this rich vegetation. Enjoy the beauty of this spot and please be careful  about it and do not walk over the mosses and other plants.

The holiday cottage is built of thick pine logs and is very well insulated for winter conditions. The house is spacious with a 120 m2 surface downstairs and a nice covered terrace. There is an entrance with in the right wing of the cottage access to changing room with washing machine, shower and sauna.

Sauna

A Finnish holiday cottage is not complete without a sauna. The sauna is electrical heated and free to use. From the sauna and bathroom the veranda is easily accessible. A dive in the lake is also possible. The distance to the lake is about 100m.

Terrace

There is a spacious 14 m2 veranda and it offers the possibility to sit outside protected against wind rain or heat of the sun. In the springtime of 2008 there will be built an outside terrace with permanent barbeque. When it is finished you have the choice to use the terrace or veranda.

The living room and kitchen

In the left side of the cottage you enter the spacious living room and open kitchen. The kitchen has a dishwasher, fridge, microwave oven, ceramic hotplate, high quality pots pans and cutlery.

In the living room you find the typical Finnish soapstone stove to supply agreeable warmth in wintertime. There is a TV set to watch the Finnish TV channels and also a Game Cube game computer with some games that you can use. Along the living room there is a bedroom with 2 single beds and a large master bedroom with a double bed and a desk. The stairs lead to an open loft were you find 2 single beds. The rooms are warm and comfortable furnished and have wooden floors.

Cool in summertime and warm in wintertime

The cottage is suitable for a stay in all seasons, also in winter when the temperature can drop to minus 30 C. The house is heated by under floor heating in the whole surface of the downstairs floor. The warmth of the earth is used to heat the under floor heating and warm water supply. The system is called a heat pump system and an environmentally friendly way to heat the cottage. For the drinking water there is a 120 m deep well witch provides water of  excellent quality. The heating system has more than enough capacity to keep the house warm in winter time, but if you want to try the soapstone stove  it is also possible. The big stove is heated with wood  and after a few hours burning the massive stone has accumulated the heat and starts radiating the warmth. This is a slow process and it takes 48 hours for the soapstone stove to cool down completely. Using the soapstone stove correctly needs some explanation but the manager of Hostel Mansikka will help you if you want to use it.

outside

When you step outside  the cottage you're in the Finnish woodland. On the backside of the house a path leads to the waterfront where you find the Indian canoe. In summertime you can use it to discover the lake and little islands.

Renting the cottage:

The renting prices can be found under "pricelist " The use of the Indian canoe, sauna and heating and electricity included. Bed linen can be hired at Hostel Mansikka.

A few rules:

We are non smokers and want to keep the cottage free of the smell of smoking. If anything is missing or broken, please report to Joris of Hostel Mansikka. The house was built for 6 persons, but it is spacious enough to make one or two extra beds, ask Joris for the conditions. If you want to make a reservation, you can email or telephone call and we inform you if the house is vacant at the time you want it. The reservation is definitive when 50% of the rent is on our bank account.