Villa Sjötorp

This white timber villa adorned with decorative wood carving Swedes call ‘carpenter’s joy’ (snickarglädje) has an elevated position with a marvellous view, a wonderful garden and winding wooden stairs down to the beach. The villa was built as a summer retreat for Carl Haeger, a mill owner, at the end of the 19th century. The Lyckorna bath houses in Ljungskile attracted Sweden’s moneyed classes around the turn of the 19th century. A little more than a century later a grandchild of Haeger’s, Ellika Mogenfelt, managed to acquire the villa and have it carefully renovated. The wooden floors, the table silver, the magnificent tiled stoves and the crystal chandeliers evoke that epoch. Beautifully worn and creaking floors, thresholds rounded by use, walls that transmit every sound, all serve to reinforce the feeling of paying a visit to the past. Most rooms are named for their dominant colour, with the pink room wearing an old-rose tone with wainscoting, beautifully patterned bedspreads on comfy beds and a newly renovated bathroom with turquoise floor tiles. Every ingredient served in the fabulous restaurant is organic and locally produced. Enjoying a meal in the dining room – be it breakfast, lunch or dinner – is a solace for stress-fatigued souls. It’s easy to rest here, to relax and simply enjoy..