It’s been a long while since the last time I got a chance to go and do a photoshoot session together with Miika. The plan was to shoot Ford Edge at Oulainen. That place is so far from Posio that I thought reserving a place to stay the night would be a smart thing to do. It was quite a coincidence that I found this House of Penttilä. Unfortunately the brochure is in Finnish only.
Where are the hotels?
I’ve learned to use Booking.com -web page (This is a reference link which means that if you book a hotel via this link, both You and I get 15€ return after your stay.) while searching for hotels for my trips. Now I bumped in to a situation, that there was nothing there at Oulainen to reserve a week before arrival. Maybe it was because it was also Easter –week. What I noticed though, that not many places offering accommodations at Oulainen was actually advertising themselves at these reserve sites (like booking or others). Perhaps there are already so much people coming that they don’t need it but somehow I doubt it.
Penttilä
We tried to search for an accommodation for quite some time together with Miika. Then all of a sudden, the editor in chief of a local magazine called Pyhäjokiseutu came to the rescue and hinted about a place called House of Penttilä at the Oulainen city center. I found a telephone number for cultural producer of Oulainen city by browsing the internet. That person was marked as a contact for the place. The rest was easy and we agreed to meet up at the house, when I had arrived at Oulainen. I also heard, that I would be the only one staying there at the time, so even when own private bathroom was missing; it did not disturb me as much as it normally would have.
History
The House of Penttilä was built in 1914 and was known as House of Lepola at the time. An elementary school teacher called Juho Oksa was living there with his family. At the later stages, a vice judge Martti Penttilä was living there with his wife, education council Irja Penttilän and their children. The ownership for the House of Penttilä transferred to the City of Oulainen in the year 2004.
Cultural house
This house was neatly refurbished and they were able to maintain the old feeling even though you notice that pretty much everything is new. A reward (Viisikanta –listed building) was awarded to City of Oulainen based on a remarkable restoration of a culturally valuable building. The restoration was done between 2014-2015.
Meetings and feasts
It is possible to arrange all kinds of happenings in the House and there are rooms for five persons. There are four rooms upstairs and three of them are single-rooms. One of the rooms is with a double-bed. As mentioned earlier, the bathroom is shared but it’s clean and functional. There’s a modern kitchen downstairs equipped with modern machinery. Coffee set is for 40 people and that should be enough for even a little bigger party. Washing them up is no problem either because of a dishwasher. If you are planning to arrange a business meeting, there is a Full-HD videoprojector and a screen for your presentation.
Highly recommend
All in all, this House was very confy and it’s located in a quiet place right next to the Centre of Oulainen. Despite of its age, there was no “wild and strange noises” of an old house to be heard during the night. The price for the stay was reasonable 30 euros. It doesn’t include breakfast but there’s a fridge and cooking utensils you can use to make your own. Grocery stores are not far away.
I really think this place would deserve to be known and advertised much more especially for those who are just looking for a roof over their heads for the night. Maybe Oulainen should consider this a little bit more.
Penttilän talo on facebook
Big Thanks to Miika to translation.
