In 1907, Akseli Gallen-Kallela and his family moved into the old main building of the Alberga Manor in Leppävaara (demolished in the 1950s). The Alberga Manor estate was owned by the family of Akseli's wife Mary. The artist had already made the first sketches of his future studio in Tarvaspää, a windmill, together with architect Eliel Saarinen.

The design and construction of Tarvaspää began in 1911, after the Gallen-Kallela family returned from their trip to Africa. The land for the studio building was carved out of manor estates summer residence. The family moved to the Villa Linudd, which was renovated for winter accommodation. Family lived there during the construction years of the atelier which was build opposite of the wooden villa.

The studio castle was completed in 1913, and in its original form it was dedicated as a studio. On the second floor of the tower were exhibits of artefacts family brought with them from Africa.

In 1915, the Gallen-Kallelas were forced to leave Tarvaspää and flee the turbulent atmosphere of the First World War. They retreated to Ruovesi, to their first studio home known as Kalela. During the war years 1915-1918, Tarvaspää was the target of looting and sometimes the scene of battle.

1923 Akseli Gallen-Kallela travelled to the United States. Mary and Kirsti moved back to Tarvaspää for a short time. Mary's mother Aina Slöör also moved to Tarvaspää from the cold and draughty Alberga Manor. Mary and Kirsti travelled to the USA in 1924, and Mary's relatives and son Jorma, lived in Tarvaspää temporarily.

1926 Akseli, Mary and Kirsti returned to Finland. They settled again in Tarvaspää. The atelier was converted into a habitable dwelling. Among other things, electricity and water pipes were laid, a modern bathroom was built and the heating system was renewed. A kitchen was built to replace the so called etching room.

In 1931 Akseli died of pneumonia in Stockholm. Mary and Kirsti stayed in Tarvaspää after his dead. In the 1930s, son Jorma and Pirkko, his wife, also lived in Tarvaspää.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Mary was again forced to retreat from Tarvaspää. The Army Intelligence Department occasionally used the atelier as a base. After the end of the war in 1945, atelier remained empty for more than 10 years. The children of the region remember studio castle as a haunted house that only the most brave ones had nerve to break in.

In 1958, the Akseli Gallen-Kallela Museum Foundation took ownership of the studio and villa Linudd. The studio castle was renovated for museum use and it was returned to its original state. Only the atelier fireplace, the American style bathroom and few extra walls remind of the renovations made by the family in the 1920s. The Gallen-Kallela Museum was opened to the public in 1961. It was Akseli Gallen-Kallela's wish to establish a museum in Tarvaspää from the very beginning of the planning of the castle.