HOME TOUR: Tove Jansson’s Helsinki atelier.

All too often, house museums lose their sense of home, with “do not touch” signs and modern alarm systems breaking the illusion of domestic life. This is not the case, however, at Tove Jansson’s home and atelier in Helsinki. The attic space in the central Ullanlinna district—where Jansson wrote the Moomins, her bestselling series of children’s books, and established herself as an artist—has been preserved almost exactly as it was when she died more than two decades ago. 

The atelier is closed to the public, but for the rare visitor it tells the story of Jansson’s artistic ambition. The soft Nordic light, which made it an ideal studio, still pours through the windows, the ceiling soars to nearly 16 feet and pine-paneled walls catch and reflect the pale winter sun. Books—in Swedish, German, English and Finnish, including everything from art to prose—line the walls in precarious stacks, and a long, timeworn workbench stands against the back wall. Three tall windows face south, overlooking rooftops, brick chimneys and distant church domes. From the mezzanine, reached by a steep flight of stairs, you can catch a glimpse of the sea and the ferries slipping away in the icy waters toward Stockholm and Tallinn.