| Lepikko torp | |
|---|---|
Lepikon torppa | |
 Lepikko torp in 2010 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Address | Urho Kekkosentie 121 |
| Town or city | Pielavesi |
| Country | Finland |
| Coordinates | 63°13′17″N26°47′01″E / 63.2214°N 26.7836°E /63.2214; 26.7836 |
| Current tenants | Urho Kekkonen Birthplace Museum |
| Year(s) built | 1860s |
| Renovated | 1960s[1] |
| Owner | Lepikko Foundation[2] |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Timber |
| Known for | Birthplace ofUrho Kekkonen |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheLepikko torp (Finnish:Lepikon torppa) is a mid-19th-centurytorp orcroft house located inPielavesi, central Finland, notable as the birthplace of the 8thPresident of Finland,Urho Kekkonen (1900–1986).[2]
The building is constructed of rough-hewn logs, and originally consisted of a single room. When the Kekkonens moved in, they modernised the building, including adding a chimney (previously the primitive stove had none).[2]
The Kekkonens were not actually croft farmers; Urho's father, forestry manager Juho Kekkonen, had rented the house, as it was conveniently located for his job at the time.[2][1] Nevertheless, when Urho Kekkonen first ran for the presidency, the cottage featured in his campaign, to support his common-man image as the "boy from the torp"; even the chimney was edited out of a well-publicised photograph of the building, to underline its modest standing.[2]
In 1966, the torp was converted into Kekkonen's birthplace museum.[3]
The building has been designated and protected by theFinnish Heritage Agency as a nationally important built cultural environment (Valtakunnallisesti merkittävä rakennettu kulttuuriympäristö).[1]
