{"id":19844,"date":"2023-03-24T09:30:46","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T08:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=40710"},"modified":"2023-03-24T09:36:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T08:36:40","slug":"a-swedish-manor-house-once-home-to-a-king","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-swedish-manor-house-once-home-to-a-king\/","title":{"rendered":"A Swedish manor house once home to a King"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Michael Isoz and his wife Lena inherited this Swedish manor house, they needed to furnish it almost from scratch. Over 20 years later and it\u2019s now filled with beautiful 18th and 19th-century antiques, which expertly complement its sensitive, period-appropriate decorating scheme. Photographs Martin Lof\/Living Inside <\/p>

By Katie Pike\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 24 March 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Inheriting a manor house whose foundations date from the 13th century and which once belonged to a Swedish king sounds like the ultimate dream. Especially when the manor house in question is located in the postcard-pretty 400-year-old town of Trosa in southern Sweden \u2013 all painted wooden-clad cottages and romantic fishing boats lining the banks of the river.<\/p>\n

Michael and his wife Lena moved to \u00c5da Mansion in 1990 when, \u2018the only pieces left in the house were the 19th-century chandelier<\/a> in the dining room and a few chairs.\u2019 Michael had inherited the house from his father and is the sixth generation of his family to have owned it. \u2018It has been in the family since 1841, which was shortly after it had been rebuilt from scratch by the architect Carl Christoffer Gj\u00f6rwell \u2013 best known for his work on the Haga Palace,\u2019 says Michael.<\/p>\n

Furnishing such an extensive home could have been a daunting task (there are three floors, six bedrooms and ample reception rooms) but one gets the impression that Michael isn\u2019t the sort to become phased. \u2018To begin with, when the children were young, we didn\u2019t have much money so we bought pieces gradually, mainly from auction houses in Stockholm,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

\u2018Although I spent a lot of time here when I was growing up, I also lived with my mother in a farmhouse in the south of Sweden. She loved 18th-century antiques<\/a> and I\u2019ve inherited that fondness from her. It\u2019s the form I love \u2013 soft, curved and without any harsh angles.\u2019 And so, over the years, the couple steadily acquired pieces from that era \u2013 from Gustavian decanters to a handsome rococo desk.<\/p>\n

The look is subtly different in the parlour though, which has been redecorated in keeping with the house\u2019s 19th-century origins \u2013 with Empire mirrors and mahogany book cabinets. \u2018After moving in we asked various experts for their opinions on how we should redecorate,\u2019 says Michael. \u2018Our aim was for the house to be as true to the original 19th-century design as possible.\u2019<\/p>\n

They managed to find \u2013 underneath many layers of paint \u2013 the original hues, which they matched as closely as they could. Within the space of a year and a half, the whole of the ground floor had been redecorated \u2013 with not so much of an eye on current interiors trends but on authenticity.<\/p>\n

These days, they don\u2019t have much spare time for hunting down new pieces, but often stumble across art and antiques on their travels<\/a>. \u2018Homes can become cluttered so easily when you\u2019ve been living in them for a long time, so I\u2019m always trying to carry things out and Lena does her best to carry them in,\u2019 Michael laughs.<\/p>\n

Although he\u2019s unable to pinpoint his most treasured antiques in the house, Michael explains that his favourite rooms are the library, with its gentleman\u2019s study feel, and stately dining room. \u2018I love the atmospheres in both \u2013 and also the fact that they\u2019re usually the rooms used for dinner parties and larger affairs,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

Despite its grandeur, this is very much a house to be enjoyed with their four, now grown-up, children, dogs and frequent guests. \u2018I love living here because it\u2019s home \u2013 and it\u2019s been that way for so long \u2013 but also because it\u2019s a very sociable house. It\u2019s great for parties and when the children were young we spent so much time in its grounds, too,\u2019 says Michael.<\/p>\n

Despite the parties, the history and beauty of the interiors, sustaining a property like this today requires a savvy business head and the reality isn\u2019t perhaps as breezy as you\u2019d imagine. \u2018Within the estate, we run a farm, a golf course, a hotel, a marina and hire out a vacation home,\u2019 says Michael. The many enterprises certainly keep him busy, but he and his family wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n