Why are so many Finnish houses red?
- Cat
- Mar 31, 2017
- 2 min read
Close your eyes and think about Finland. What are some of the first images that come to mind?
Chances are you pictured gorgeous snowy landscapes, reindeer, tall blondes (this is a myth by the way), and quaint wooden red houses - maybe even in that order!
But why are so many of those quaint wooden houses that iconic deep red? Sure, it's a beautiful color that stands out nicely against a snowy backdrop - making for beautiful photographs, but hundreds of years ago they weren't thinking about this! The deep red tradition didn't actually start in Finland, but rather, in Sweden. The ores from copper mines in Falun produced iron oxide, which was a byproduct of burning the ore to obtain the copper. Originally the red dirt was considered trash and piled up beside the mine. A few hundred years later, someone noticed that the pile had not rotted or decayed and began manufacturing it as paint. Since it was cheap and easy to produce, many wealthy people did not use it, preferring to use expensive pigments in colors of yellow or white. Finland calls this paint punamulta, or "red earth". It is also called Falun Red.
When it comes from the ground, it is not red, but yellow. It is only converted to red after heating or oxidizing. The ore is mixed with water, flour, and linseed oil. Rauma, Finland has a nice outdoor museum that reflects on the history of this traditional color and still makes batches of it in the traditional way.
The Falun red dates back to the mid-1500s, although cave painters thousands of years ago also used a similar mixture. It became more popular in the 1600s and originally was intended to mimic brick-faced buildings. In the early 1800s, governments began to oppose the use of the color and the Scandinavian and Nordic countries migrated to lighter, pastel-like colors (yellows, blues, pinks) you also still see today.
Click through the slideshow below to see the traditional red throughout Finland and Sweden.
In the countrysides of these regions however, the most common color is still the traditional deep red. The Finnish expression, punainen tupa ja perunamaa - "a red house and a potato field", which directly refers to the idyllic nuclear family life, is a direct allusion to a country house painted using punamulta.
Although this "paint" used to be very inexpensive, its resurgence in popularity has caused prices to rise. Unlike modern latex paints, the punamulta binder of flour and linseed oil breaks down over time leaving the granules of color behind. The buildings fade, but they do not peel. Restoration is fairly easy, you merely have to brush the loose fragments off the building before repainting. No pressure washing, scraping, or the like.
We love seeing these traditionally-colored homes on our travels outside of the city.
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