Second-home landscape:: The meaning(s) of landscape for second-home tourism in Finnish Lakeland

Second homes are an integral part of leisure history in many developed countries. They are also increasingly popular in modern societies. While the material well-being of home and work has increased, man.), people increasingly seek simpler life forms. An essential motive to use and purchase a second home is the landscape. This article explores the concept Of second-home landscape on the basis of contemporary research and a case study of second home owners in the Finnish Lakeland. Attributable to theories of human geography, three prominent approaches of second-home landscape are distinguished: physical, experiential and cultural. The case study illustrates that these are not mutually exclusive, but the landscape has many faces. Even if the physical attributes form the solid basis for the second-home landscape, it does not exist independentally of perception. It is produced through the everyday practices of people, which are adjusted to social and cultural discourses. In the strain of modern society, second-home landscape is often perceived as an ideal habitat. It, however, is in constant change in relation to time and space so that future generations, inheritors and buyers of the cottages will have their say in the contexts in which the landscape is interpreted.