Our Story
First a little history
Seppo's early ancestors roamed Lapland's wilderness for uncountable generations over many centuries. They were nomadic during the summers and established winter camps and bases during the colder months. In 1733 they decided to permanantly settle in this particular part of Lapland when they found a suitable spot to build a home on the northern shore of the Nampa lake. They took Nampa as their family name as was customary in those days. People often used the rivers to travel around and this place was some 70 kms up-stream from the trading post at Rovaniemi. Back then, Rovaniemi consisted of around 50 houses and a church. These were mostly built on a small peninsula just south of the confluence of the Ounasjoki river with the Kemijoki river, Finland's longest river. Because of it's favourable position, it had been a popular place to live even in the stone age and by the mid-1500's a small population of about 200 lived there, made up of people from different indigenous Finnic tribes. From Rovaniemi, the Kemijoki continues another 120km down to the town of Kemi on the Gulf of Bothnia, which had already established itself as a settlement in the 1200's.
By 1839, a road weaving inland from Kemi, following the Kemijoki river up to Rovaniemi, was finally completed. As a result, the timber, salmon and fur trade increased greatly. Kemi's town had prospered since the early Middle Ages because of it's position on the coastal road around the Gulf of Bothnia, which was an important trading route. Now it was Rovaniemi's turn to prosper. Since there were no actual shops in Rovaniemi yet, merchants and peddlers from Kemi and beyond would visit to tout their wares. Ten years on and encouraged by the trade and the abundant natural resources further north, the road building continued upwards from Rovaniemi. First it made its way north-east towards lake Vikajärvi, then around the lake's southern shore and eastwards to lake Kemijärvi. Later, the road building resumed from Vikajärvi northwards, eventually reaching Seppo's great-grandparents in Ylinampa. From here, the road continued onwards to another ancient settlement called Sodankylä, closely following the rivers that cut through the wilderness. The roads took decades to build as they relied on compensation to employ farmers when crops failed. After Sodankylä, the road continued further north and eventually reached Petsamo and the Arctic Ocean in 1920. It now became known as the Arctic Ocean or "Ice Sea" Road.
Korvala was originally established as a crown forest croft in 1889, 12 km north of Ylinampa near Käyrästunturi fell. It was the first property established here, in what later became our village, right next to the northbound road where it meets the Raudanjoki river. A small hill provided the ideal location for the house and farm, which were protected from summer-time frosts by having a lake on one side and the river on the other side. The name Korvala derives from the combination of "korva" and "la". A "korva" is a part of the river where the water can be heard flowing over rocks, like small rapids; the "la" denotes the place of something, like a house. There are four korvas along the stretch of river running past the length of our property, so Korvala means "the house by the river where the flowing water can be heard"!
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The job of crofters was primarily to look after the new road, but the distance from Ylinampa meant Korvala was also an ideal place for travellers to stop for a rest along the way. As such, the croft also functioned as an inn and gave safe refuge for intrepid voyagers, lumberjacks and government officials alike. In those days, inns in the north were located approximately 10 kms apart and if they didn't walk or ski, travellers rode in horse-drawn sleighs or carts. In time, Korvala became part of a nationwide network of inns that signed contracts to ensure an agreed standard of accommodation, food and horse-drawn transport to travellers. These were called kestkikievari in Finnish, from the Swedish word gästgiveri, meaning "guest-giver". Another task of the innkeepers was to ensure that mail, as well as customers, could get to the next inn, and a driver had to be always available. Korvala is the oldest inn in Lapland that has stayed in operation since those early days, welcoming guests and giving food as well as a place to sleep for those on their travels for over 100 years. Seppo recalls how his grandmother, Hanna, used to sit on the porch steps, smoking her pipe while watching their horses work down in the fields alongside their latest acquisition - a Fordson Super Major tractor. She would reminisce about those early innkeeping days and how she helped prepare the horses that took their guests on to the next inn.... how things had changed in her lifetime... and how things were before the modern world caught up with the people living in this remote corner of Europe...
Seppo's grandparents took over the croft in 1911 after the tragic death of the previous crofter's wife. Seppo's mother, the family's youngest, was born there in early 1919, just over a year after Finland declared independence from Russian rule during the chaos of the Bolshevik revolution. In the spirit of optimism and prosperity, a new law was passed in 1922 which allowed crofters to take ownership of their property. Seppo's grandfather, Juho Pekka Nampa, who was listed as an innkeeper in the 1924 population records, applied for this independent status for Korvala. The summer of 1927 was spent with officials measuring out the land. After their assessment, it was decided that since his family had lived at Korvala and managed the road well for many years, Juho-Pekka only needed to pay 1/8 of its value. It was calculated that the property could easily support their 10 cows and two horses. 105 hectares were declared suitable for timber growth. The number of valuable trees (those which were over 18cm wide at 6 meters) was calculated to be 3071, of which it was considered that 766 would be enough for any future building work, heating, and the re-seeding of the forest. The buildings, in addition to the land, were scrutinized to arrive at the croft's value. The price for these, which included the main house, the guest house, the sauna, dairies, stables, hay barns, granary and equiment shed was set at 795,- mk. The hay fields, crop fields, meadows, lakes, river frontage and forest land were set at 4 085,88 mk, and the 766 trees at 3 386,- mk, making 8 266,88 mk all together. The greatest value, however, was in the remaining trees, coming to 21 306,50 mk. This brought the final total to 29 573,- mk. Juho-Pekka duly paid and Korvala was granted independent status on 31st October 1927.
Sadly, all the buildings at Korvala were burnt to the ground at the end of the second world war, like most of the properties along the roadside. Since people had been warned about the advancing threat, there had been a massive evacuation of Lapland. Seppo's parents went with their young children and their elderly grandparents to his father's old family home in Karunki on the Swedish border, while their milkmaid Tilma walked the cows and horses the 210km along with their other farmhands to get them there to safety too. After the war ended, they all returned, rebuilt everything again, and carried on giving guests a place to stay on their travels.
Five years later, disaster struck again. The main house burnt down a second time: on Good Friday in 1951 the chimney set fire to the wooden roof whilst pies were being baked for Easter. So once more, a new house was built. The construction was completed in record time, ready for the many tourists that visited Finland for the summer olympics in Helsinki in 1952.
Seppo, also the youngest member of his family, was 20 years old when he took over the business in 1977. He first built a new café and an amenities building for the campsite, which operated during the summer months. He then ventured into the forest to cut down some trees, shape them into logs and build a row of cabins with south-facing views over the lake. Finally, he built a new sauna on the site of the original sauna, which had been built at the end of the 1800s.
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During the 1980s, Lapland saw a growing interest in winter tourism. So, in 1994, we extended and insulated the cabins so they could be used during the winter season as well. Guests visiting us in winter were offered full or half board, along with various activities such as horse-drawn sleigh rides, husky sledding and snowmobile tours, as well as visits to our corral with a local reindeer herder, his children, and their reindeer. We also provided cross-country skis and ski tracks, snowshoes, ice skates, and ice fishing equipment for free.
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From 1995 to 1999, we carefully moved and renovated an old house from our neighbouring village, which Seppo’s grandfather had known well as a child. Originally built in the mid-1800s, we restored and furnished it with the surviving family belongings and furniture that had been evacuated during WWII. This house became our main building and the hub of our activities, housing our reception and restaurant in a traditional and historic setting. We entertained a lot of people, and for a few years during the Christmas period, we hosted groups of around 200 people who flew in for fun-filled day trips, including the secret charity groups funded by George Michael.
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For most of the time, however, we hosted back-to-back groups of 50-60 international Erasmus Exchange students studying at Scandinavian and Baltic universities. These students stayed with us on action-packed holidays throughout the winter season. This continued for 20 years. During those two decades, we were kept very busy with raising a family, operating our kennel of around 80 dogs, running a restaurant and managing cabin bookings. We'd also do the winter tours and activities that ran from mid-November to mid-April and during the summer's long polar days from mid-May to mid-September we'd look after the campsite, which was open 24/7. Every autumn from mid-September to mid-November, we'd be training our huskies in preparation for the next winter season.
Then Covid-19 struck.
Nowadays...
Well, our business and our kennel survived Covid-19. Even though it was tough, things have been worse in the past, and through thick and thin, the family has persevered. We still live here at Korvala year-round but things are a bit quieter these days. The accommodation is still in the cosy, log cabins built by Seppo, and our guests are mostly young families and couples. We have scaled down a little and the maximum number of guests is now 36. Many of the outdoor activities and tours are still available to fill snowy winter days: without any extra cost, guests can go cross-country skiing, snowshoe hiking, ice-skating and ice-fishing. For those who feel adventurous, our beautiful huskies will enthusiastically take our guests through the forest on sledding tours. And what better way to finish off the day than with a sauna and a swim in the lake, or by the fireside enjoying a traditional candlelit dinner in our relaxed, rustic restaurant! Finally, during the night, it's always a good idea to keep a look out for those elusive northern lights...!
We hope you enjoy finding out more about all these activities on the various pages here on our website!
We wish you warmly welcome!
Jaana and Seppo
