The building adjacent to the street was built in 1818. It is an example of Finnish wooden architecture in the Neo-Classic Empire style, with broad horizonal panelling and pilasters.
The plot extends through the block from Strandgatan to Östra Långgatan, and this has been the case since the 18th century. From 1873 until the 2000s, there were two inhabited buildings on the plot, the main house on Strandgatan and a building along the northern side of the plot – see Carlström’s bakehouse.
In 1834 the house was owned by Johanna Christina Forsman, widow of the Mayor of the town of Kaskinen, Wilhelm Forsman. After her death in 1839, the ownership passed to her daughter Johanna Carolina.
From 1866 the property became part of the Carlström shipping and trading company, which dominated much of the business locally. It was bought by Carl Emil Carlström, who himself lived in a two-storey house on the other side of Strandgatan. The property was inherited in 1889 by his son Carl Alfred Carlström, who lived on Östra Långgatan above the plot. After Alfred’s death, the house was bought by fisherman Johan Carlberg in 1911 and then passed to his heirs.
The sea captain Emil Weckström was the owner of the property from 1918 to 1923. Until the First World War, he was the commander of s/s Hyllos, one of the largest Finnish steamships of the period,
owned by the local Navigator shipping company.
In 1923, the Ingves family took over, with the owners Emil Ingves, his widow Selma and finally Emil’s father Henrik until 1935. Emil died young, but reached fame by founding the first local White Guard
in Finland, in the village of Lappfjärd outside Kristinestad. This voluntary militia movement had a decisive role for the outcome of the Finnish civil war in 1918.
During the Ingves family ownership, the houses were rented out to several tenants, including Rosa Rosenqvist, who ran a restaurant and café in the main building and temporary accommodation in the
house in the courtyard. Rosenqvist bought the property in 1935 and continued her business here until 1946. Later owners include Bertel Rusk, a department manager at Kesko wholesale company, in
the 1960s.
Text: Staffan Martikainen. The Swedish version is the main version with more information
