Architect Alvar Aalto designed Villa Väinölä as a home and office for his brother Väinö Aalto. The house was completed in 1926, and its design was based on a house with an atrium that Aalto drew in 1925. Alvar Aalto also designed an outbuilding at the northern end of the house, which was completed in 1938.
The town of Alajärvi acquired the building in 1952 and had a new wing added to the southern side of the house. Renovated in 1997, Villa Väinölä housed local government offices. The Nelimarkka Museum acquired the building in 2015, after which it was refurbished and opened to the public in 2018. Villa Väinölä serves as a venue for events and art exhibitions.
