Island retreat

The way this one came about is: a couple of years ago, Andrea & I were playing Swedish fiddle tunes at the Brattleboro farmers market with Mary & Susan, and someone we’d never met before came up to say that he was visiting from Sweden, and that we were playing tunes from his childhood village in Hälsingland! So that’s how we met Gunnar. Then he played a few tunes with us, and invited us to come see him next time we’re in Sweden.

Mills and I were delighted to take Gunnar up on his offer of visiting his home, which is a peaceful countryside sanctuary that’s about an hour’s commute west of downtown Stockholm, in Kungsberga. To get there, we met him at a commuter train station and he drove the rest of the way. When we were nearly there, we detoured past a charming little farm market run by a Thai woman who is his local source for lemongrass.

Gunnar and his wife Maria made us feel very welcome. We toured their home and gardens — Maria is an architect, so the addition they put on their older house feels very organic and masterfully designed. Gunnar is justifiably proud of the brand-new sauna he just built, which doubles as guest cottage, and we were honored to be its first occupants. Daughters Lovisa and Linn joined us for a yummy and companionable dinner.