Villa Hakasalmi was built for a holiday home of Procurator, Privy Councillor, Freiherr Carl Johan Walleen (1781–1867). In 1840 Walleen sold Träskända manor in Espoo to his stepdaughter Aurora Demidov (neé Stjernvall, later Karamzin) and got the finance for renting a plot by Töölönlahti bay, outside the city and the construction of Empire style Villa Hakasalmi. German-born, Helsinki based architect Ernst Lohrmann designed the villa and the wings that were built in 1847. English style garden was also created to the site.

After Walleen`s death, Aurora Karamzin inherited the villa and lived there until her death in 1902. The city of Helsinki bought the villa from Karamzin in 1898. After Karamzin passed away, the villa was used as the exhibition space of historical collections of the National Museum before the new National Romantic style museum building opened for the public in 1916 on the opposite side of Heikinkatu (now Mannerheimintie).

Today Villa Hakasalmi is one of the locations of Helsinki City Museum.