An archetypal house in Estonia

Koda is one of the oldest Estonian words, originally meaning “place for living”, and it is linguistically very close to the words kodu (“home”) and koht (“place”). Over time, completely new types of koda have appeared: places for making music and meeting others, blacksmithing, worship; all of which shows how deep the koda’s roots are in Estonian culture.

The concept of the cottage designed by KUU arhitektid is based on the archetypal koda, which has been modernized in form and function. The cottage in Muraste consists three units – one for sauna, one for living room-kitchen and one for bedroom-bathroom. Latter two are side by side and directly connected. Between the main house and the sauna there is a large terrace connecting every function of the summerhouse and creating outdoor “nests” for each function. Large openings are directed to north towards the nice view of the Baltic Sea and also south to catch the sunlight. The bright interior and converging ceiling is illuminated by triangular roof windows that strive towards the sun. The cottage is a timber frame structure finished with natural larch cladding both the walls and roof. Sauna unit is painted with tar oil.