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A letter from the summer house

a summer house surrounded by lush greenery
Do you, too, dream of a peaceful retreat from hot and crowded streets or of having your own place where to build and experiment? The holiday home is something to cherish and preserve – and an important part of the history of modern Sweden. Photo: Unsplash

SUMMER READING. What does having your own summer home mean, and what is the history of the holiday home in Sweden? Here, Per-Johan Dahl, Head of the Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, together with his LTH colleague and architectural historian Erik Sigge, tells about his own summer house and looks back at our collective longing for a home of our own, in all its clarity and simplicity.

A long row of letterboxes. Afternoon tea served at three o’clock sharp. The hammock cushions are piping hot; on the other side of the fence, a horse snorts. A couple of elderly cousins are sitting in the cherry tree, spitting out stones. The scent of wild roses where the path is at its narrowest. When the thunderstorm rolls in, we’re sitting in the car. In the clear water, across a striped sandy bed, a solitary little crab scuttles about.

The best spot of the summer can be a treasure to return to, with memories piled one on top of the other.

But the opportunity to spend seemingly slower days in a summer paradise can, of course, also be viewed in the light of broader societal developments.

Read the full article Letter from the summer house on lth.se