History

The Holma estate was founded in 1760 with the name Kirkkopudas. In 1780, Juho Juhonpoika Holma became the owner and gave his name to the land and the house. The current house is from 1860 and the builder and first owner of the house was sea captain and merchant Niilo Ludvig Portin. Portin ran the first shop of the village at the end of 1800s and the painter Charles Portin is one of his children. The Portin family sold the farm in 1890 to Frans Oskar and Karoliina Knihtilä who changed their surname to Holma. The same family owned the house for 120 years.

The first brewery in Tornio was started at Holma estate in 1858. The owner was Jonathan Granqvist who also ran a brewery in his home town Oulu. Granqvist must have considered Holma to be a suitable place for a brewery because foreign hops were needed to make beer. Also the location right beside the Finnish-Swedish border was suitable for marketing of the finished product.

Holma has been an important house during the Jäger movement (WWI) when Finnish volunteers were trained in Germany as Jägers to battle against Russia. This secret project involved around 1100 youngsters who had to be transported and accommodated in different houses during their travel from Finland to Sweden and Germany. Holma has also been a part of smuggling routes because of the easy access to Sweden across the Tornio River.

The bloodiest part of the house history happened during the Lapland War in 1944 when Finnish troops disembarked in Röyttä harbour and met the first German troops close to Holma. During and after the battle both Finnish and German soldiers were taken care for at Holma house.

Holma House is undergoing an extensive restoration project which will be done with utmost care and respect for the history and heritage. This will allow many people from near and far to experience and enjoy the house in its next chapter.