Honkala farm

The history of Honkala Farm reaches back to 1886, when the Ollila family first set foot on the Honkala beach. One of the Ollila sons bought Honkala at an auction, and made it the base of the Ollila family from then on. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Kalle Ollila and his wife Matilda (nee Törmänen) owned and worked on the farm. Kalle and Matilda were the parents of Kaarlo Ollila, who founded Ollila Holiday Cottages. At one time in his life, Kalle Ollila worked as a fishing vessel skipper in the Norwegian Sea. He was also a skilled carpenter, who loved construction work. He even worked at the construction of the Murmansk railway. Matilda Ollila stayed home with four children, taking care of the farm and cattle.

Second World War

Kaarlo was the youngest child of Matilda and Kalle Ollila. There was a lot of insecurity during Kaarlo’s childhood due to the Winter War, the Continuation War and the Lapland War. With his family, Kaarlo had to go on two evacuation trips, first in 1939 to Pudasjärvi, and again in 1944 to Oulainen that was more than 300 km away. Kaarlo and his father returned home ahead of the rest of the family, to prepare the farm for the home-coming.
Kaarlo’s future spouse Eevi Lämsä also took part in those evacuation trips. Eevi’s home was at Muosalmi, on the other side of the lake. Since the early 18th century, her home had been a popular lodging house for travellers on the waterway from east to west. Kaarlo and Eevi went to the same school, worked in fishing and farming in Sossonniemi, and went to fielddances. All this made them a couple. The love story of the century was solidified by their birthdays that were on consecutive days of the same year.

After the Continuation War, Kaarlo became acquainted with German soldiers in Haukiniemi. He told stories about these encounters until the end of his life. Despite the unsettled circumstances, the German soldiers inspired Kaarlo to study languages and become interested in foreign cultures and travelling.

The Beginnings of Tourism

Eeva and Kaarlo were amongst the first tourist entrepreneurs in Kuusamo. In 1965, Kaarlo read a magazine article about a small farm in Turku Archipelago, southwestern Finland, which had expanded in tourism. Their rental cottages were very successful and they had had many international guests. This gave Kaarlo one more boost towards tourism, and he began building his first holiday cottage.

In 1966, the first cottage was built from trees taken from the Honkala farm woods, on a site that the farm owned. Kaarlo chose the location carefully, keeping in mind that if the tourist company was not profitable, he could sell the cottage and the site it was on. The first guests to rent the cottage were German tourists. Finnish travellers found us in 1968. During 1966–1976, the holiday cottages of Ollila were built one by one, using timber from the farm’s woods.
Kaarlo also worked as a guide for various groups, touring with them in Oulanka National Park and Iivaara, and exploring the home village of author Kalle Päätalo in Taivalkoski. At Ollila, tourists were also entertained with summer events where local fish dishes and pancakes were served, accompanied by accordion music.

Change of Generation in the 1990s

In 1995, Kaarlo and Eevi decided to take more time for leisure and retire. The company underwent a generational change, Kaarlo’s son Tuomo and his wife Marjo took over the company. So far, Tuomo had been working in fishing, first at a fishing tackle shop and eventually as a professional fisherman and entrepreneur. Marjo had been working in a bakery, as a caregiver for children and the elderly, and in fishing tackle manufacturing.

There was not a moment’s hesitation, when Kaarlo and Eevi offered their company to Tuomo and Marjo. The young couple had many new ideas for expanding the company’s selection of services. Catering and fishing were introduced as activity programs, the old shingle mill area was renewed, and one more building was constructed: a dance barn, where many joyous summer dances were held with accordion music ringing in the woods.

Innovations continued with the renovation of holiday cottages and the construction of a new restaurant, Juomuskota. At the same time, the route network and collaboration with other Ruka-Kuusamo tourist companies was improved. Cottage renovations have been going on to this day, activity programs have developed and multiplied. The Juomuskota menus have seen many new twists over the years.

Today

and the 3rd generation of tourism at Ollila

In 2021, the offspring of Marjo and Tuomo joined the Ollila tourist company. Again, new wind is blowing in the company. A new Safari House with a lovely restaurant has been built in the restaurant area to serve the increasing flow of customers