Every design for Järvenpää

Ever told someone you are from Järvenpää and watched them think of Sibelius? The composer's home, Ainola, stands by Lake Tuusula here, but for the people who live in Järvenpää the town is first of all a place to come home to, a short train ride north of Helsinki on the main line. The name means the lake's end, and that is exactly where it sits.

It is one of the most densely built towns in the country, its homes packed between the railway and the water, and it has grown almost without pause for decades. Most working residents travel elsewhere for their jobs, mainly to Helsinki, so the evening train home is part of the daily rhythm. The village was once part of Tuusula; Bjarne Westermarck turned the station area into a community, and families from Terijoki settled here after the Winter War.

Whether your Järvenpää is the garden at Ahola, the clean lines of Villa Kokkonen or the walk from the station to the shore, this is the town you return to.