Villa Akleja, Historical wooden villa in Vaxholm, Sweden.
Villa Akleja is a large wooden residence in Vaxholm featuring a two-story studio with a glass roof and northern windows that open onto an expansive garden. The complex includes nine rooms, six bedrooms, and two separate guest houses distributed across the sprawling grounds.
The villa was built in the 1870s and underwent major renovation in 1901 when it became the home of artist J.A.G. Acke and his wife Eja. They inherited the property from Zacharias Topelius, a Finnish-Swedish author who had previously lived there.
The villa displays a decorative frieze by sculptor Christian Eriksson showing a dancing faun, matching a similar work on the Dramatic Theatre's main facade. This artistic embellishment connects the residence to other notable Swedish buildings and marks its place within the artistic community.
The property is laid out in a way that makes it easy to explore the different areas and buildings at your own pace. Plan to spend time walking through both the indoor spaces and the surrounding gardens to appreciate the full property.
The villa introduced open room connections in Scandinavian architecture, with the dining room linked to the studio through sliding doors and an arched passageway. This innovative spatial design was ahead of its time and influenced later architectural approaches.
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