The creation of the Tuusulanjärvi artist community is something for which women deserve much of the credit. In May 1897, the painter Venny Soldan-Brofeldt came to see the Vårbacka house at the Järvenpää Manor and fell in love with the place at first sight due to its proximity to the lake. She made a sketch of the then single-story building in her sketchbook and sent it to her husband, the writer Juhani Aho, in Paris. The decision was made in an instant: “This is the place for us.” However, the Ahonen had to wait three months. In the inheritance division confirmed on August 30, 1897, Järvenpää Manor, along with its taxable lands “Kyrölä 1, Seutula and numbers 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 16, …” was transferred to the ownership of the couple’s daughter, Alfhild Westermarck née Ehrström. Only now did the forester Anton Walter Westermarck and his wife Alfhild have the authority to sell or lease the manor’s lands. The Ahonen rented Vårbacka. Purchasing was also an option, but the writer felt that such a commitment was too binding. The move took place in mid-November, and the family enjoyed their time in Ahola—as the house came to be called—until 1911.

The Halonen and Järnefelt families soon followed, as did the poet Juhana Henrik Erkko. At that time, there was a real movement among artists to flee to the countryside, to work in a peaceful and reasonably priced environment. Eero Järnefelt had already taken Sibelius with him in June 1897 to see the Kasuri villa in Lempäälä. The place was beautiful, but the distance from Helsinki was too far. Pekka Halonen lived with his family in a rented house next to Järvenpää station in 1898, before moving to the Tuomala village, until he found a suitable residence on a rocky peninsula by Lake Tuusula. The plot cost just under 3,000 euros in today’s money, but his colleague Eero Järnefelt, at the same time, had to pay the Westermarcks over 10,000 euros in today’s money for his plot next to the Ahonen! Rural life also interested the Sibelius family. They moved in 1899 from Helsinki to Mattila in Kerava (See: Housing), just a few kilometers from the artist community.

By 1902, there were already four artist homes in the Tuusulanjärvi area: Ahola, the Järnefelt’s Suviranta, Halosenniemi, and Erkkola. There was lively interaction with the residents of Mattila. According to a story, Sibelius once skied in winter to Kielomäki, next to Suviranta, to look at a plot. The trip was worthwhile. Ainola was built on the same spot in 1904 (See: Ainola’s construction).

The community also included the Hjelt family’s Lepola. The house and plot of Archiatre Otto Hjelt were located on the shore of Lake Tuusulanjärvi, between Ahola and Suviranta. The property was later purchased by Professor Emil Nestor Setälä, who renamed it Toimela. Next to Ainola was also the Kallio-Kuninkala of Vuorineuvos K. A. Paloheimo, where Sibelius’s daughters visited almost daily. Eva Sibelius and Arvi Paloheimo were married in 1913.

The Tuusulanjärvi artist community was a rare phenomenon in its time, but what made it even more unique were the other cultural figures who lived in the area for longer or shorter periods. In addition to the families’ significant relatives, the likes of Albert Edelfelt, Viljo Tarkiainen, Otto Manninen, Yrjö Hirn, Birger Mörner, Santeri Ivalo, and Eino Leino, who often stayed at the Onnela boarding house, were also present in the area. The younger generation was represented by F. E. Sillanpää, Yrjö Veijola, the translator of Ateenalaisten laulu (“The Song of the Athenians”), Einari Vuorela, Uuno Kailas, Heikki Asunta, and many others.