A Little Museum

Sven Wallander was a man with a vision. He was an architect and had a dream that the average worker in Stockholm should be able to enjoy a weeks vacation down by the coast. In 1929 that dream came true as four hundred summer houses like this one at the square at Årsta Havsbad were ready. As were the new roads to the seaside resort and the all the stores needed for the summer visitors. Another architect, Osvald Almqvist designed the houses that were built at a factory in Sparreholm. There were a few different models to choose from. They were all very small not bigger than 16 square meter. They were very basic and had no running water or indoor toilet. You could stay here for one week with your family. The cost was ten kronor. The first people that took advantage of this opportunity worked at the Dagens Nyheter, the big morning paper in Stockholm. Later some of the workers bought their own houses and many more were built. Today it's a different story. Many of the 800 houses have been rebuilt and redesigned and a number of people live here year round. Last weekend Årsta Havsbad celebrated 80 years and I decided to have a look in the museum at the square. This sports hut was donated by Sonja and Evert Jalke in 1999. It is today a museum and looks just like it did back in 1930 when it was built. All the furniture and home appliances in the hut are gifts from the locals. During my visit I met Richard Roosvall who showed me around. Instead of picking two or three photos I decided to use the flickr slideshow and I hope it works. So press the little arrow to start the slideshow.