Workers Residental Area
A village grew around the mill in the late 1800s. It had different dwellings from small cottages to large residential buildings. Houses were built by the workers and the company alike.
In 1896, the Verla mill company bought the Ojasela farm, which had main buildings located about three kilometres from the mill. The mill wanted to own the shore area on the Valkeala side of the Verlankoski rapids, which was part of the farm. The workers built their cottages on the mill company’s land. In the 1910s, the mill company began to buy workers' cottages built on its land. The employees were allowed to stay in the cottages and live without rent. With the exception of one, the cottages were sold to the mill company. The Valkeala side of the village of Verla has remained very authentic and is today an important part of the Verla World Heritage Site. The workers' residential area tells the story of the life of the mill workers.
Kymi company established a holiday village for its employees in Verla in 1967, three years after the Verla groundwood and board mill ceased operations. The Verla holiday village was used by all the employees of the Kymi company's factories and their families. People came from as far as Heinola and Kotka.
During the first summer, only a few apartments were in use. By the following summer of 1968, more former mill workers' apartments were renovated and four new holiday cottages were built. By the summer of 1969, four new cottages were completed, which are still available for rent to visitors to Verla today and are known as the Raili-Kaarina cottages. After the completion of the cottages called Tuomi, Haapa, Pihlaja and Paju, the holiday village had room for more than 100 guests.
The Verla Mill Museum was opened in 1972 and its operations were naturally combined with the company's holiday village, which already operated in Verla. According to the holiday village employees, the cottages were always full in the summer and there would have been more visitors than there was room to receive. In addition to holidaymakers, the village was visited by many people for courses and meetings organised by the company, especially in the spring and autumn.
Various activities were organised in the holiday village. The holiday village's dances were danced in the mill's former warehouse: records were played and sometimes someone might have an accordion with them. Later, the dance orchestra Hugo Mullqvist often performed at the dances.
Water was an important element in the holiday village. Each cottage had its own named rowing boat, and Verla had a nice beach. The holidaymakers rowed and fished. There was a lot of outdoor activities in the holiday village. There was a volleyball court, games, sports equipment and later also a tennis court. The holidaymakers also walked on nature trails in the forest. The holiday village had instructors who came up with exercise-oriented activities.
In addition to the instructors, the holiday village had a hostess, cooks, waiters, cleaners and outdoor workers. The holiday village was run by about ten employees. The holiday village's employees were supervised by the social manager of Kymi company.
After the first summer of the holiday village, there had been complaints about the lack of a common canteen. This was hoped for because it 'allowed mothers to spend the holidays without the worries of cooking'. In the mill’s workers room, at the end of the calendering wing, a café was renovated for the holiday village and the dining facilities in the main building, patruunan pytinki. The mill main building also served as a training room for the courses. At that time, there was a shop in the village and a store on wheels also visited three times a week.
The holiday village activities of the company staff ended on 31 December 2006 and since the summer season of 2007 the holiday cottages have been available for rent by everyone.
The oldest building in the area is Lipun Cottage, where visitors can see an exhibition about workers' housing during the summer. Read about Lipun torppa here.