Villa Tallbo's story

The villa is part of the maritime history of Rauma.

Villa Tallbo is the result of Rauma blossoming in the sailing ship times of the turn of the century. The house was built by the shipowner Gabriel Granlund’s estate as the family summer house. Villa Tallbo is the only surviving example in its size group of the villa culture in Rauma at the turn of the century.

The villa was designed by architect Yrjö Blomstedt and it was completed in 1901.

The Granlund brothers led a party-filled life both at the villa as well as at their townhome Marela. The boys were not able to take care of business as the father-Granlund had once done and so the fortune collected over decades was wasted in just a few years. In 1906, Villa Tallbo’s ownership was transferred to the Pharmacist Hellfors as a payment of guarantee claims.

In 1911, the Pharmacist Tötterman started as the owner of the first pharmacy in Rauma and he also bought the handsome villa Tallbo from his predecessor. In 1920, a Danish factory owner established the Rauman Ikkunalasitehdas (= “Rauma window glass factory”) in Korkeakari in Kompi and at the same time he also acquired Villa Tallbo, which was equipped for year-round residential use for the company’s design engineer and cashier.

Many constructional changes were made to the property, rooming changed and outside balconies and decorations removed. In 1926 the glass factory was destroyed by fire, and the factory owner sold his property to the consular Jalmari Penttilä as a summer residence for his family.

The villa was owned by the Penttilä family until year 1991, when Maila and Erkki Sinervaara bought it and began an extensive restoration project, as well as set up the restaurant carrying the original name of the property, Restaurant Villa Tallbo. Since 1992, the restaurant has offered unique and magnificent settings for family celebrations, celebration lunches and dining for business entertainment events. Dining in the idyllic rooms of the ornamented villa and enjoying the many delights of the buffet table is an absolute highlight of the trip for tourist groups.