Grams Gård

Set on a small hill at the edge of the village of Simris in the southern Swedish province of Skåne, surrounded by meadows, pastures, and fields, Grams Gård sits in the rural region of Österlen, a quieter alternative to mass tourism on the Swedish coast, with panoramic views over the Baltic Sea, a five-minute cycle to the sea itself, and twenty-five minutes by car to the beaches of Sandhammaren, in a region known for its art galleries, design studios, and the quiet rhythm of Swedish countryside life.

An 1851 farmhouse with three wings lavishly restored by its owners, the Swedish-British architects Ia Hjärre and Andy Nettleton of Stockholm-based Dive Architects, Grams Gård keeps its original sober design while introducing modern interventions in perfect harmony with the old building, including a new black tin roof with large dormer windows and oak-framed sliding windows on the ground floor. Three residential units are grouped around a cobblestone inner courtyard with an old chestnut tree at its centre: the three-hundred-square-metre main apartment serves as the architects' family residence and is also rented out, with the dining area and living room opening up to the gables and a concrete staircase leading to three bedrooms in the attic; a ninety-square-metre apartment in the former farmers' homestead retains a more traditional character; and a fifty-square-metre studio reached by a steel staircase has been built in the former hayloft. A small twenty-five-square-metre cabin sits separately on the site.