The house
This is a hand-hewn log farmstead of about 177 square metres (1,905 sq ft) on Väddö, an island in the Roslagen region north of Stockholm, on two plots totalling 5,375 square metres. The logs keep the marks of the axe, and the joints are left exposed across the interiors.
The kitchen opens to a double-height living room with a fireplace and large windows facing the meadows and woodland around it. Rooms on the ground floor can take different uses, with further living and sleeping space upstairs. The roof is pitched. In the photographs it is rust-coloured sheet metal, with painted boards above the log walls in the gables, an open-tread timber stair and a timber deck with a long table outside the garden door. The kitchen in the photographs has a stainless steel range and worktop, and the hall floor is grey tile.
The makers
Jordens Arkitekter spent decades designing homes for others before becoming the developer of two timber farmsteads on Väddö. They wanted to follow the timber from forest to finished building, and oversaw the construction and craftsmanship themselves.
The plan draws on the traditional Swedish farmstead, with buildings arranged around sheltered courtyards. A separate barn and carport of about 128 square metres (1,378 sq ft) stand on the plot. Both farmsteads are about 177 square metres inside, and the first is listed with Fantastic Frank.
The land
The farmstead sits along a gravel road near Lake Bornan, about 90 minutes from Stockholm. A second farmstead of 5,429 square metres stands on the same road.
