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Finnish Folk Art Museum

1974 establishments in CaliforniaArt museums established in 1910Art museums established in 1974Finnish-American culture in CaliforniaFinnish art
Folk art museums and galleries in CaliforniaMuseums in Pasadena, California
The Finnish Folk Art Museum, Pasadena, California
The Finnish Folk Art Museum, Pasadena, California

The Finnish Folk Art Museum is located on the grounds of the Pasadena Museum of History in Pasadena, California. The only museum of its type in the United States, it was created in 1974 by Yrjö Alfred Paloheimo, a native of Finland, who was the husband of Leonora “Babsie” Curtin.Paloheimo served as Finland's consular officer in Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. For 17 years, Finland's consulate offices were located in the mansion. Paloheimo founded the Finlandia Foundation and established Järvenpää, Finland, as Pasadena's sister city in that country. He and his wife also adopted four Finnish children who were reared on the Fenyes Estate.The Swiss chalet-like structure, constructed of redwood with a stone roof, was built in 1910 as a garage for Arthur Fleming's Wigmore Estate. Fleming's architect, Frederick Roehrig, also designed portions of the Green Hotel in Pasadena. In 1949 Paloheimo learned that the unusual structure was for sale, and moved it onto the grounds of the Fenyes Estate to serve as a folk art museum, guest house, and sauna. Paloheimo filled the building with farmhouse furnishings he collected from several provinces in Finland, and did much of the stone work and gardening himself. The museum have large areas of lawn, with the beautiful Fenyes Mansion as a background, are ideal for wandering.Inside the museum, a large living room called a “Tupa” is furnished with early 19th Century Finnish peasant furniture and objects. Visitors may see an open hearth or “Takka” used for heating and cooking, poles and overhead racks called “Leipävartaat” for storing rye sourdough bread, and “Tuoli” or chairs hand-carved by farmers as bridal gifts to their daughters, as well as many other Finnish hand-made items.The Finnish Folk Art Museum and Finlandia Gardens were officially dedicated in 1974. Currently maintained by the Pasadena Museum of History, tours of the folk art museum are often included in Feynes Estate tours

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Finnish Folk Art Museum (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Finnish Folk Art Museum
Millard Avenue, Pasadena

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N 34.148888888889 ° E -118.16027777778 °
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Millard Avenue
91102 Pasadena
California, United States
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The Finnish Folk Art Museum, Pasadena, California
The Finnish Folk Art Museum, Pasadena, California
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Fenyes Estate
Fenyes Estate

The Fenyes Estate is a historic two-acre estate complex located at 160-170 Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena along what was once known as "Millionaires' Row". The Pasadena Museum of History maintains the century-old estate and offers docent-led tours of the Fenyes Mansion, the Curtin House, and the Finnish Folk Art Museum and gardens.In 1905, Dr. Adalbert Fenyes, a Hungarian entomologist and the first Pasadena doctor to use an X-ray machine, and his wife Eva Scott Muse Fenyes commissioned a two-story house from architect Robert D. Farquhar. Designed in the Beaux Arts manner, the mansion was completed at a cost of $20,325, In 1911, architect Sylvanus Marston of Marston & Van Pelt completed an addition consisting of a studio, conservatory, and laboratory.Like many of the large old homes along Orange Grove Boulevard, the Fenyes Mansion reflects the opulent neoclassical tastes popular at the turn of the century. Dr. Fenyes' wife, Eva, was an accomplished artist and world traveler who met her husband in Cairo, Egypt.The estate and gardens were used as sets for a number of early motion pictures for film industry notables such as Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith. The estate is listed as a Pasadena Cultural Landmark and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 5, 1985. Marston & Van Pelt also designed the 1915 Curtin House, a smaller French-influenced house on the grounds for Eva Fenyes' only daughter, Leonora Curtin, who inherited the mansion from her mother. Leonora Curtin had one daughter also named Leonora who was known as “Babsie”. A linguist who spent time among the Pueblo Indians, Babsie traveled widely, spending time in Santa Fe and Pasadena until she met Yrjo Alfred Paloheimo, a Finnish diplomat whom she married in 1946.Paloheimo was Finland's Consul for the Southwest area and the Fenyes Mansion served as the Finnish consulate's office for seventeen years. Paloheimo also established the Finnish Folk Art Museum, a Swiss chalet-style building. Paloheimo and his wife adopted four Finnish children, who together donated the estate to the Pasadena Museum of History in 1970.