Another Finnish-American architectural gem by Mike Macki, the barefoot Finn.
The chinking at Maki Talo had barely been cured in the autumn of 2008, when Mike Macki, "the barefoot Finn" and creator of the building, and I were enjoying a well-deserved celebratory beverage on the porch when talk turned to the inevitable--would a sauna be next? The thinking was that the site demanded one for completion.
Click here to view a complete slideshow of the creation of the Maki Talo Sauna.
winter...
In early December, Macki went to the spruce plantation of his sister Irene and Bill Severson, and marked trees for cutting in the spring. The trees were of approximately the same age and size as the pine used to build Maki Talo. Spruce was selected as it would not bleed sap during the extreme heat of a sauna.
spring...
Macki harvested the trees in March 2009, and hauled the logs to his property in The Willow where he removed the bark with a drawshave in May.
In early June, Macki, working at his home in The Willow, laid out the bottom logs of what would be the new sauna, and started the building process by scribing and cutting out the saddle cuts on the ends of each log. Log by log the sauna gradually started taking shape in his yard. By July the basic log sauna had been completed.
summer...
The building site was prepared at Maki Talo and the concrete slab was poured in early August.
fall...
Macki dismantled the sauna in early September and moved it log by log to the building site and reconstructed it like a giant set of Lincoln Logs. An oversized roof extending out on all four sides and over a front porch was constructed. A ceiling made of spruce planks was installed. The logs were stained a beautiful Sun Valley Pine color.
Cedar shakes hand-split by Macki were fastened to the front gable end.
inspiration...
A few years ago when I visited Helsinki I stayed in a large downtown hotel. The sauna was located on an upper floor. The dressing room had a fireplace with a warm fire crackling in it. The sauna room had a large wall to wall window which overlooked the city. Snow was gently falling. Chatting in the sauna were international diplomats. It was a gemutlich experience.
Gemutlichkeit is German for "coziness." Rather than merely describing a place that is compact, well-heated and nicely furnished, it connotes the notion of belonging, social acceptance, cheerfulness, the absence of anything hectic and the opportunity to spend quality time.
craftsmanship...
Maki Talo is a blend of traditional log-building and new age design. So when it came time to decide on a window for the new sauna, we went with a very large one so as to bring nature into the sauna experience. Privacy was not an issue to be concerned about at Maki Talo which is located deep in the woods.
Spaces for the window and a door were sawed out of the logs and the large window was installed. Macki made a door out of two inch thick spruce planks sawed by my brother Donald, from a large spruce tree on the property.
Dale Burton, the blacksmith who forged the hinges for Maki Talo, hammered out two more hinges of the same style for the sauna door. A sliding wooden door latch fashioned after a latch on an old log cabin was created by Macki.
A green steel roof was installed to match the roof on Maki Talo.
Inside the sauna are two half cedar log benches made by Macki. A similar bench for two was made for the porch to sit on and cool down after a hot sauna.
A heavy steel sauna stove manufactured by Leo Nippa in Bruce Crossing, Michigan, had been purchased by Arnold Koskela in 1964. A steel water barrel was then fabricated by the local blacksmith Edwin Anderson, and attached to the stove to heat water. The top of the stove was filled with small round stones that Koskela collected on the shores of Lake Superior. Koskela used this stove in his sauna until his death in 2007 at the age of 90. This entire set-up was moved intact to the new sauna and given new life. Wooden buckets and ladles made in Finland were acquired for washing.
Steaming with massage is an essential part of taking a hot sauna and no sauna is complete without a vihta or switch of fragrant leafy birch twigs, to stimulate blood circulation. Rod Maki and June Saari Johnson create and bring to Maki Talo very good ones from the birch trees on their property just before Juhannus, Midsummer Day. The bunches of birch twigs also possess medicinal value with all their valuable properties and essential oils.
The sauna sets under a mighty oak tree and during the later stages of construction acorns falling on the roof like the sound of hail reminded us that summer was nearing an end.
Mike Macki is the "Frank Lloyd Wright and George Nakashima of the Northwoods:" Frank Lloyd Wright in that he not only designs buildings, but also designs and builds the interior furnishings; George Nakashima in that he is a master of wood. He incorporates natural wood imperfections into his building and furniture designs. And, like both, he integrates everything into the natural environment.
Everybody needs a mokki...
Today, as one is sitting in the sauna enjoying the view of nature through the large window one can see a nearby garden planted with native woodland plants. A large rock with a flat side has a bronze plaque with a quote by Satish Kumar which reads: "Walking in nature is my prayer, my meditation and my solitude. I don't look to the sky to find heaven. My heaven is here on Earth." And Maki Talo is very close to being heaven.
The hyysikka or outhouse located down a path is fitted with a stained glass window of an autumn colored tree that I made many years ago. It has been called the "nicest hyysikka in the whole U.S. of A."
Maki Talo is located on the Knox Creek Farm ski trail. In winter one can ski out to Maki Talo, put a fire in the stove, warm up, make hot chocolate or cider and enjoy lunch. For those with sisu, water can be hauled out for a sauna.
Maki Talo is an intimate Finnish-American retreat...mokki and sauna.
A mokki is a small building in Finland. They are off by themselves near lakes or trees, in settings where you could find peace. The feeling of serenity is the most striking thing about them.
"Everybody needs a mokki" stated Philip Besonen (Finnish American Reporter, August 2009). "They are used for relaxation and enjoyment of nature."
Click here to view a complete slideshow of the creation of the Maki Talo Sauna.
directions...
Maki Talo - Hill House is located in Brantwood, the center of Finnish settlement once known as Uusi Savo, in north central Wisconsin, and can be seen by appointment only.
For more information or to make an appointment, please call Bill Hoffman at:
Phone: (715)564-2253 Email: cyrilla@centurytel.net