Since 1940, the House of Finland’s membership has opened a window to Finland for our visitors.  At our Sunday afternoon open houses, our membership of all ages aims to portray modern Finland and its culture and hospitality.  Our cottage showcases design by famous Finns and Finnish companies, including furniture and glass by Alvar Aalto, the high-tech world of Nokia and Suunto, and the creative decorations by Marimekko and Aarikka. A flat screen TV plays Finnish programming, while samples of Finnish delicacies are served.

Our Balboa Park cottage serves as a resource and meeting place for the San Diego Finnish community and friends of Finland.  We promote Finnish culture by organizing traditional parties, offering Finnish movies and concerts, theater performances and lectures. 

In addition to sponsoring the Finnish school “Suomi Koulu,” every Wednesday night, two volunteer teachers offer a Finnish language class for students of all ages. 

Our volunteers organize and participate in events that are traditionally celebrated in Finland. We welcome Spring during the Ethnic Food Fair in May by offering Finnish crepes smothered with whipped cream and strawberries, refreshing blueberry soup and home-made baked goods.

During Midsummer we celebrate our “nightless nights,” so our Lawn Program highlights the lively music and dance of Finland. 

For December Nights we offer a spread that is sure to warm our visitors up: meatballs in gravy, carrot casserole, pea soup, rice pudding, and hot, spicy glögi wine! 

“FINNews,” our quarterly newsletter, provides information on upcoming events as well as feature stories on our members and Finnish culture. 

The House of Finland is also proud to serve as a polling location during Finnish elections.

In addition to involving children in House of Finland’s family-centered activities and parties, we also sponsor The Finnish School of San Diego, which strives to maintain linguistic and cultural ties to Finland by nurturing the students’ Finnish language skills, and by familiarizing the students with the Finnish way of living, and Finnish traditions.  

The House of Finland was formed in 1939 when the American Red Cross asked a group of local Finnish-Americans to help gather civilian supplies to be sent to Finland to help alleviate WWII caused shortages. As a result, an organization was formed, with President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer in the leadership roles. That started a tradition that has continued for 65 years steadily.

In 2002 we were bequeathed several thousands of dollars in the will of a former Honorary Consul to Finland Edwin L. Kokko, here in San Diego. We used the money to re-furbish and restore our cottage which is over 75 years old. It was done in modern Finnish-Scandinavian style with lightly colored wood floor and cabinets, glass display cases, designer (Alvar Aalto) furniture, and state-of-the-art lighting.

Whatever we do, we don’t take ourselves too seriously - our goal is to have fun with our visitors and each other, so everyone leaves with a piece of Finland in their heart.

From House of Finland to all friends of Finland a warm welcome: TERVETULOA!

Land Area: 338,145 sq km                               
Population:  5,238,460 (July 2007 est.)
Capital City: Helsinki                                        
Language:  Finnish 92% (official), Swedish 5.6% (official), other 2.4% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2003)
Religion:  Lutheran Church of Finland 84.2%, Orthodox Church 1.1%, other Christian 1.1%, other 0.1%, none 13.5% (2003)
Form of Government: republic
Economy: Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Trade is important; exports equal two-fifths of GDP.
Export: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals; timber, paper, pulp (1999)

Source: The World Factbook - Finland