HISTORY
A house built in 1927 and a garden that once belonged to a local park.
AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
Shipowner Horndahl's park
In 1916, the local shipowner Horndahl rebuilt Widding's villa to its current state. Back then, the magnificent iron gates on Järnvagsgatan were the entrance to the park that belonged to his house. It is said that the iron gates predate 1916 and were placed in their current location around 1900. The park and house did not belong to Horndahl for long, as only a few years later he became bankrupt.
A wedding present
The house was built in 1927, by a town brewer as a wedding present for his daughter, Mrs Bertoft. What had once been the shipowner Horndahl's park became part of the garden. It would take 52 years before the house had a new owner.
Elgström’s construction company
Elgström's construction company was responsible for both architecture and construction of the house. They also built the local church, Himmelsfärdskyrkan and the entrance hall in the house has the same floor as the church. No expense was spared on decorations, and the house was fitted with a beautiful wooden ceiling in the living room, ceiling paintings and marble fireplaces.
Dentist Bertoft
Dentist Bertoft was well-known in the area and he had his practice on the second floor. Two treatment rooms, waiting room with a checkerboard floor, laboratory and darkroom. He and Mrs Bertoft had separate bedrooms on the first floor, not far from the Aga stove in the kitchen. It was a lavish time period and servants lived on the third floor. Around the house there were convenient built in wall bells, to summon the servants rapidly.
Local celebrity
hangout
It was a house worthy of the times gentry and it is said that several local celebrities visited the house when the Bertoft's lived there. The opera singer Birgit Nilsson is rumoured to have sung by the grand piano in the living room and the actor Edward Persson spent time in the house as a dinner guest.
A house in decay
The Bertoft couple remained in the house until the end, but in the end, Mrs Bertoft was left alone. The dental practice had long since closed and little was done during these years to maintain the house. When it did come up for sale, it was a renovation project of considerable scale. Höganäs council is said to have been interested in buying the house and turning it into offices.
The couple Mr & Mrs Persson
It was the couple Mr and Mrs Persson who bought the house in 1979. Growing up not far from there, he had admired the house since childhood. They had at this time been married for 11 years, meeting through their political activism. At the time of purchase, the house was not habitable and the Persson’s made a five-year plan for the renovation. At first they had to live in the stately living room, but gradually room after room was opened up.
With the help of many
Many relatives helped with the total renovation of the house, including Karl Persson who also made the roof, gates and rooster of the neighbourhood church. Karl, who together with his son ran the local metal company Persson & Glimstedt, took on some of the metal work of the house, which was originally done by his father in 1927. Together, the Persson’s decided on the interior design, which they turned into a lovely late seventies style, with lush carpets and damask wallpaper. As they grew with the house they later updated it to a lighter interior style.
Here you have phlox!
The new owners were busy with the complete renovation of the house and the garden was initially forgotten. That was not something Mr Blycker could accept, and he turned up unannounced and planted phlox. “You have to have flowers in a garden!” The kind relative that he was, he for many years tended to the garden. His phlox remains to this day.
Just as loved...
44 years later, the house is just as loved by Mr and Mrs Persson and they have spent many happy years in the beautiful house and garden. There has been a conscious conservation of the features of the house, both inside and out. In the garden, the original wide flower beds and gravel path remain, with the original colour of the house, and inside many unique decorative details have been preserved. With so few owners, it is truly a place that enchants its occupants.