An Architect’s Weekend Home Balances on a Rocky Slope in the Stockholm Archipelago
Rickard Rotstein brings a lifetime of experience to the design of his own Swedish summerhouse.
Rickard Rotstein brings a lifetime of experience to the design of his own Swedish summerhouse.
"Stop here a moment."
Rickard Rotstein pauses as we approach the entrance to his Swedish island summer home. There’s not much to see. Ahead is a windowless box of a structure, only 26 feet wide and a bit more than 9 feet tall. Rather than set on the ground, it appears to float above it, with a rocky slope rising underneath so that the two meet at the corner.
Sunlight pours through a south-facing wall of glass at architect Rickard Rotstein’s weekend home in the Stockholm archipelago. The cladding is local sawn spruce painted with a solution of wood tar, boiled linseed oil, and balsamic turpentine.
Photo: James Silverman
The house is balanced atop a rocky slope. "Not one millimeter of rock was blasted away," says Rickard, who deferred to the topography in his design.
Photo by James Silverman
"I did this intentionally," says Rickard, who is also the home’s architect. "I wanted the first impression to be a very small, modest building, like the old summer houses. When people first come, they think that’s all there is. But then they step inside."
A pair of Splügen Braü pendants from Flos hang near a kitchen island topped with black Swedish granite. The faucets are from Vola and the appliances are from Siemens.
Photo: James Silverman
See the full story on Dwell.com: An Architect’s Weekend Home Balances on a Rocky Slope in the Stockholm Archipelago
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