Generally, people in Jakobstad call the little red house the cobbler's house. For me, it is the house of the courageous sailors' widows. With modest means, these good mothers raised their children to be able men and women. Over 50 years, the little house was in our family (1843-1893), three sailors were buried in the sea, and all three named Matts.


The yellow house, home for an old family of painters.
Hamngatan 3, lot 6, town section 4. Before the fire in 1835, the lot number was 158. After the fire, #119 in the 6th town section.


In the long yellow house with the high stone foundation, lived three generations of painters, Hans, Karl Gustaf and Thor Westerholm, between 1876 and 1949 when the heirs sold the house to the town of Jakobstad. Thor emigrated to the United States in 1959, taking his painting business with him. In 1999, the painting business turned 150 years old. Thor's son Gustaf closed the business at that time.

Photo: The painting on a wooden plank is an example of Karl Gustaf painted it from memory in 1918. Behind the painting is a text which says: "Church plan for the 1880s." The open space is now taken by the town's old fire station. The painting was donated in 1951 to the museum in Jakobstad. Today, it hangs on the wall in the museum office. The yellow house can be seen, furthest to the left.

In the census of 1795 is listed Anders Björkman with his wife Anna Greta on lot #158, where the yellow house stands today. They were still there in 1805. In 1815 the sailor Matts Holm also lived in the house with his wife Anna Beata Björkman. In the registry of 1825, Anders and Anna Greta were missing. Helmsman Matts Holm (5 persons) were still living there. In 1840, two Holm families lived there, the helmsman and homeowner Matts Holm, and the sailor Nils Holm, with their families. The lot number became #119.

* In the 1849 registry, Nils Holm's family was missing. Matts and Anna Beata Holm were left. Three sailor's families were also mentioned, Johan Drake, Abraham Jansson and Captain Gustaf Nyman.

* Still in the 1855 registry was Anna Beata Holm and the helmsman Johan Drake with his wife Anna. The tenants changed over time.

* In 1857 was the helmsman Anders Björkman, probably a brother of Anna Beata Holm.

* From the 1860s until 1873 there lived the bookbinder Frans Fredrik Ahlbäck. He owned the lot and lived there with his large family. He drowned on a trip to America "on the Atlantic Ocean, 24 February, 1873."

* After the Ahlbäck family, there was still a businessman Hjalmar Nordgren living in the yellow house before my great-grandfather Hans Westerholm bought it on 3 May 1876.