Many of us love old houses, the atmosphere they give you, the secrets and questions they hide and pose: What did the house look like originally? Has it always been here? Who has lived here before me?

Sweden has a unique treasure trove of archived material that can tell us so much about our houses and their inhabitants throughout history. This is by no means limited to castles and manor houses. There is also a lot to tell about our country houses, detached houses, city apartments and suburban villas. You just need to know where to look.

In this book, architectural historian Erika Åberg wants to take us by the hand and tell us how we can find the history of our houses, and how we can best utilize different buildings and their annual rings. She does this by telling inspiring stories, guiding us to different archives and showing us how to best interpret a building, exterior and interior.

There are plenty of in-depth examples from the TV program of the same name, but it’s a book that stands on its own, with solid advice on building styles through the ages, building conservation and restoration tips.

Discover, preserve, recreate. A garden is in a state of constant change. Caring for an old garden is therefore not about freezing a state. Instead, it is about getting to know the garden in order to best preserve its various elements for the future.

In his role as a garden antiquarian, André Strömqvist has extensive experience of older environments and, as a gardener, the necessary practical knowledge.

He describes how we can find clues, interpret what we see and set a level of ambition that works. He guides us through the different parts of the garden in the form of flower beds, hedges, stone paths and fruit trees. He describes how we can go about caring for, restoring and recreating the various parts, and lets history in the form of pioneers of older times, methods and cultural varieties arouse curiosity and inspiration.

Photo: André Strömqvist

Stylistic shifts in everyday architecture
Tidstypiskt gives those who influence and develop residential buildings and interiors a tool to base long-term sustainable management and development of the building stock on knowledge of existing values.

The authors take us on a hundred-year journey through stylistic changes in everyday architecture. Typical building details from Stockholm are presented decade by decade. From the classicist architecture of the 1880s via the stripped-down functionalism of the 1930s to the 1970s return to the grammar of the stone city as an ideal.

The building details vary with the prevailing architectural style, from the composition of the facades to the division of the windows and the design of the door handles. The reader is given the opportunity to learn and interpret the buildings and details of different periods. Knowledge provides richer experiences and constantly new impressions of everyday architecture – our built cultural heritage.

Photographs and drawings clearly show the development of residential buildings in the city and the traces left by different styles.

A drawing section makes it possible to date door linings and floor plinths – or to use the drawings to make new ones.

The book is aimed at architects, real estate developers, property managers, property owners, but also at housing associations and homeowners. The book is also suitable for teaching purposes.

Så byggdes villan is a unique exposé of a significant part of our cultural heritage – the everyday architecture of villa construction in Sweden. The book shows typical villas and characteristic building details decade by decade, from the first villas built in the 1890s to villas built in the first decade of the 2000s. Style ideals have varied over different time periods. Architecture, floor plans, structures and interiors have changed with the times. The general features of this development are shown here through a variety of new accurate illustrations in scale. Each villa has its own history and its own conditions. For the homeowner who wants to renovate his house with period carpentry, there is a drawing section with carpentry and building details, such as floor plinths, window linings and ceiling moldings.