Nowadays, Joenniemi Manor in Mänttä is familiar to visitors to the Serlachius Museums as a bastion of art, but the farm set amid natural beauty has been through a number of different phases. In the 1920s and 30s, Joenniemi was a model farm, where smallholders came to learn about agriculture and animal husbandry. Its cows and sheep, modern buildings, and tree nursery had a widespread reputation. 1935, a splendid manor house was completed on the spot, and became the showcase home of the industrialist and patron of the arts Gösta Serlachius and his wife Ruth. The manor hosted lively social gatherings and a variety of distinguished guests.00Since 1945, the house has been an art museum. The building is now part of Serlachius Museum Gösta, which shows old and contemporary art. New architecture stands alongside it, but in its patinated parquet and its elegant grounds we can still feel echoes of the lifestyle of a bygone world.