Nedre Manilla, Heritage building complex on Djurgården, Stockholm, Sweden
Nedre Manilla is a villa at Djurgårdsvägen 230 on Djurgården in Stockholm. Architect Ragnar Östberg built the large new villa in 1909–1910 and joined it to the small yellow-plastered stone Kruthuset from the 1790s, a former powder house in Stockholm's defences. The new part stands on higher ground and is linked to the Kruthuset by a dining-hall building; the yellow plaster was kept and all roofs received the same red clay pantiles. The complex has orange-yellow stucco walls, a red tiled roof, a two-storey main block with five dormer windows, and a taller angled wing with a steep red roof.
In 1790 Gustav III granted land here to the Spanish envoy Ignacio Maria del Coral y Aquirre, who named it Manilla after the Philippine capital and had costly buildings drawn up by Louis Jean Desprez. Coral was recalled to Spain after Gustav III's death in 1792 and the plans were only partly built. The area was later split into Övre Manilla, Nedre Manilla and Manhem; in 1909 publisher Karl Otto Bonnier bought Nedre Manilla and had Ragnar Östberg build the villa, joined to the 1790s powder house.
The villa holds the Bonniers portrait collection, and in 1961 the Galleriet extension, designed by Birger "Codde" Borgström, opened with an exhibition of Eva Bonnier's paintings. The house has long served Bonniers book publisher for author gatherings.
The complex is private property of the Bonnier family and is not open to the public; the Kruthuset serves as a family residence while Ragnar Östberg's extension is used for representation and the family art gallery. The 1790s gazebo stands on a small grassy hill west of the fenced grounds and is a listed building, visible from outside the enclosure.
The 1790s Kruthus, a stone powder magazine from Stockholm's fixed defences, was kept by Ragnar Östberg when he built the villa in 1909 and linked to the new wing by a dining building. It later served as a private home for Tor and Johan Bonnier's families and now for Carl-Johan Bonnier.
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