Travel Feature of the Month, Finland
Eight seasons, two villas, one Lappland Dream In the midst of the silence and beauty of Finnish Lapland, two almost unbelievably picturesque villas offer guests a cosy base for enjoying the serenity and magic of all seasons. By John Weston
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Photos: Lappland Dream
Have you fallen in love with Finland yet? It’s just a matter of time. More specifically, it’s a matter of seasons, according to German couple Andreas Feicht and Dana Voyé who first visited Finnish Lapland over twenty years ago.
“We wanted to really experience pure winter, cold winter, real snow, not wet snow, but powder snow, relaxed surroundings, calming down and feeling the atmosphere – that was the motivation to go to Finland in the first place.”
“In German, we call it Kaiserwetter – emperor’s weather,” Feicht tells Scan Magazine. “Kaiserwetter is very bright – the nicest weather in the whole year, between March and mid-April, up to when the snow begins to melt. Bright blue skies, sunglasses on – it’s a kind of magic.”
But, Feicht explains, this “magic feeling about nature” is available all year round in
During their first visit, the couple stayed in a handsome wooden villa in the Arctic village of Rauhala, and, in 2015, they purchased that villa from its German builder-owner. 82
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Issue 162
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January 2024
Lapland, where Sami culture names eight distinct seasons in the rapidly changing local cycle of colour, light and wildlife. For example, there’s Finland’s early autumn ruska, when the temperature is still above zero in the daytime, and “all the leaves and the swamps become red, very bright with nature’s fascinating colours. At that time, all plants seem to burn,” muses Feicht. “And there’s the crisp temperatures of the blue season from December to January,” says Voyé, with its mesmerising aurora displays and snow that glows by moonlight. Cosy and quiet Lappland Dream (note the German spelling) consists of two houses, the Mother House and the Little Sister, the only differences being the number of guests that each can accommodate, 10 and 6 respectively, and the owners; the Mother House is owned by a Swiss couple, Jürg and Martina Dräyer. Both villas are fitted throughout with classic knotted golden pine – de rigueur for traditional Finnish