Kultaranta

Kultaranta (Swedish: Gullranda; lit. 'Golden Shore') is the summer residence of the president of Finland. It is in the district of Kultaranta on the island of Luonnonmaa, in Naantali. The granite manor house is surrounded by 560,000 square metres (6,027,790 sq ft) of park, belonging to the property.

Kultaranta
Gullranda (in Swedish)
General information
Type	Governmental
Location	Naantali, Finland
Coordinates	60°28′04″N 21°59′57″E
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Lars Sonck
Main contractor	Alfred Kordelin

The President of the Republic's summer residence, Kultaranta, stands in 54-hectare grounds in Naantali on the southwest coast. As well as the granite-built house, the complex includes numerous outbuildings and greenhouses, and a park.

Kultaranta's original owner was the businessman Alfred Kordelin, who had a manor house built for himself in 1914. It was designed by the architect Lars Sonck. When Kordelin died in 1917 the manor's ownership shifted to the University of Turku and, in 1922, the Finnish Parliament voted to acquire it for use as the president's summer residence.

The ground floor contains the reception rooms and private apartments. Upstairs are the bedrooms and guestrooms. Marble steps lead from the ground floor to the tower, from which there are views of Naantali and the inshore islands.

The parks around the manor, containing approximately a thousand square metres of greenhouse and a garden with 3,500 roses called Medaljonki ('medallion'), are open to the public. The scent and colour of these roses are at their peak in the middle of the summer, when the President and family and their guests come to Naantali for the holidays. Tours in the garden are organised by the City of Naantali's tourist service.

Kultaranta's Park has been described as a "mini-Versailles". The parkland to the north of Kultaranta is in practically a natural state, though a few sandy pathways have been built there, and the woodland is kept in good condition.

Kultaranta has about 1,000 square metres (10,764 sq ft) of greenhouses. The garden supplies the President's household with both flowers and vegetables all year round.

Gallery

• 
  Kultaranta seen from the sea
• 
  Tower detail (main building)
• 
  Kultaranta gardens
• 
  Presidential boat, Kultaranta VIII
• 
  President L. K. Relander relaxing in Kultaranta in the 1920s
• 
  King Gustaf V arrives in Kultaranta in 1936.
• 
  President Kyösti Kallio playing tennis in Kultaranta in 1937
• 
  President Urho Kekkonen with Secretary-General of the United Nations U Thant in Kultaranta 1962
• 
  President Martti Ahtisaari and Eeva Ahtisaari in 1994
• 
  Negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö took place in Kultaranta 2016

See also

• Kesäranta
• Mäntyniemi

Further reading

• Hannu Heikkilä (2014). Kultaranta (in Finnish). Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. ISBN 978-952-222-552-8. ISSN 2323-7392.
• Eeva Ruoff (1996). Kultaranta. Gullranda. A summer home in Finland. Helsinki: WSOY. ISBN 951-0-21016-1.
• Pirjo Uino (1982). Villa Gullrandas trädgårdsarkitektur (in Swedish). Helsinki: Finskt Museum. pp. 33–85.

External links

• Kultaranta [1], with pictures (in English)