Muuratsalo Experimental house

The Muuratsalo Experimental House, Alvar and Elissa Aalto’s summer home, stands on the western shore of the island of Muuratsalo in Lake Päijänne. Besides the house itself, also in the grounds are a woodshed and smoke sauna.

The Experimental House consists of the main building (1952–54) and a guestroom-wing (1953). The L-shaped main building and walls form an internal courtyard which is open to the south and west. In the courtyard, the house façade material ranges from white-painted plastered wall to red brick. The heart of the patio is an open fireplace in the centre of the courtyard.

The smoke sauna is in a sandy cove on the lake shore. It was built on rocks, with logs from trees felled on site. Besides the steam room, the sauna building also has a changing room. Alvar Aalto made sketches for the sauna and Elissa Aalto created the working drawings.

Aalto designed the motorboat Nemo propheta in patria, which Elissa and Alvar Aalto used to get to the Experimental House in the summer. The boat is now in the Alvar Aalto Foundation’s collection. 

Find out more about the architecture of the building on the Alvar Aalto Foundation website. The Muuratsalo Experimental House can only be visited in the summer. Visits and guided tours are managed by the Aalto2 Museum Centre.