My mother liked things to be as they had always been. Truth be told, she abhorred change of any kind. She felt a little bit run down was charming, and she'd scoff at anything too fancy. ("They have a tennis court. In the country! Can you imagine?! Whats wrong with people nowadays...") Under her regime only the absolutely necessary repairs were ever done, and consequently there was a lot to do afterwards.
One of the little houses that had been left to its own devices for many years was the old sauna at Stensund. It lies in the most beautiful location, high up over the water on a little hill, and I often thought what a wonderful little cabin it could be. I say could be, as it had been built sometimes in the 60's and had neither running water nor electricity which meant that no matter how much we warmed the sauna it always had a slightly cold and damp feel to it. No wonder then that mould set in, and with that any hope of making a small surface renovation to make it habitable.
Mould sadly has a tendency to spread everywhere and having mould in houses is actually highly hazardous for humans as it often causes severe allergies and respiratory problems. As we pulled down the affected materials in walls and ceilings, we realised that it had spread much too far for anything to be saved. All that was left was an empty shell, but in this case I truly felt it was better to be safe than sorry!
Afterwards came the fun part - building it up again!
As the whole interior had been gutted, I decided to rearrange the living space a bit so that there would be room for a separate bedroom next to the kitchen/ living room. The sauna was tucked in behind the bathroom, more or less in the same space as before, but now with running water the bathroom is a luxury version of it's predecessor. I'm not entirely sure my mother would approve... but considering how well the whole renovation went it may be that she has been endowing us with a bit of angel blessings from afar.
As the youngsters are still happy to huddle together in the old Stensund farmhouse I've put Sörrebo up for rent, but I'm sure that eventually one of them will want their own space. For now though, while they study and work abroad for much of the year, they are just so happy to hang out with each other that it is a joy to behold the youth commune they are keeping in their own house.
The thing I love the most with Sörrebo is the terrace and view over the bay! Even on a rainy day the roof covers the bench on the front porch, and the stillness and beauty of the surrounding nature is always amazing. As it lies on the tip of the peninsula it really is like being in your own little nature reserve with wildlife all around.
