Helsinki YWCA House
- Helsinki
- 1928
Architect Wivi Lönn was in the early years of the 20th century one of the most architects in the Jyväskylä area. She designed many of the villas in the Art Nouveau villa district Älylä, near the centre of Jyväskylä. She even designed one villa for herself, which was completed in 1911. The three-storey house is situated in the corner plot of the streets Hämeenkatu and Wivi Lönnin katu. At the time, the view from the 1st floor windows opened to the lake Jyväsjärvi. Later the shoreline has moved and higher buildings have been built between the shoreline and Lönn’s villa. Wivi Lönn lived in the house from 1911 until 1918 when she moved to Helsinki. Later in her life, she lived in the YWCA house in Kamppi district of Helsinki, designed by Lönn and Aili-Salli Ahde.
Wivi Lönn’s villa is a rare example of an Art Nouveau architect’s home in Finland. Its contemporary example is Hvitträsk by Lönn’s fellow architect students from the Polytechnical School of Helsinki, Herman Gesellius, Eliel Saarinen and Armas Lindgren.