Christmas at the Manor

The Kulla Gunnarstorp manor (or castle, as it called in  Sweden) is the "Downton Abbey" of our neighbourhood. The beautifully located manor enjoys a spectacular view over Öresund. Although the owners most likely do not have quite as many servants as Downton Abbey, I am quite certain that their Christmas will be as filled with traditions as the one shown in the famous television series.

At the Kulla Gunnarstorp gate

A slightly different angle, where you can see the manor better.

The Kulla Gunnarstorp horses will most likely enjoy their Christmas outdoors, with a spectacular view.

 

A tree trunk at the Kulla Gunnarstorp manor

A detail of the trunk of a very old oak at the Kulla Gunnarstorp manor in Helsingborg:

An old building at the Kulla Gunnarstorp Manor

There are several interesting old buildings at the neighbouring Kulla Gunnarstorp manor. This is one of them:

The historic Svartå Manor - the largest non-ecclesiastic wooden building in Finland

The historic Svartå Manor, situated about 80 km west of Helsinki, is the largest non-ecclesiastic wooden building in Finland. The architectural style of the manor, which was built between 1783 and 1792, is a mix between rococo and neo-classicism. The interior is mainly in Gustavian style. A unique bedroom, where one king (Sweden's Gustav III) and two emperors (Alexander I and Alexander II of Russia) have slept, is of particular interest.

In the early 20th century the manor was owned by Finland's then richest man, Hjalmar Linder, who also was a major patron of the arts. Among Linder's guests at Svartå were e.g. composer Jean Sibelius and the Swedish painter Louis Sparre. 

The privately owned Svartå Manor is now a museum. The surrounding buildings have been converted to a small hotel and a restaurant.

Stora Sundby - "The Swedish Abbotsford"

Stora Sundby, "the Swedish Abbotsford", in a late 19th century photograph. 

The books of Sir Walter Scott made him and his Abbotsford House well known all over the world. Sweden was no exception.

When the rich nobleman, count Carl de Geer in 1824 bought the 16th century manor Sundby Hus at lake Hjälmaren in Södermanland, his wife, who had read Scott's novels about the noble knight Ivanhoe, wanted their new home to be converted to a "Swedish Abbotsford". 

The count did not want to disappoint his countess, which is why an English architect, Peter Frederick Robinson, was commissioned to redesign the old manor in the style of Abbotsford. The conversion was not an easy task, which is why it took 16 years to complete. But in 1848 the new "romantic knight's castle" was finally inaugurated. 

The house, renamed Stora Sundby (Great Sundby) by de Geer, is now the home of Johan and Tina Klingspor and their children.   

For a comparison, here is a late 19th century photo of the real Abbotsford, which became a model for the modern revival of the Scottish baronial style: