Visiting Lilla Hyttnäs: The House of Karin and Carl Larsson

Article by Flora

“Welcome to the house of Carl Larsson and his spouse!” are the words that will welcome you at the entrance of one of the world-famous living memories of art, love, and life. The house where Karin and Carl Larsson decorated, lived and created their works is named Lilla Hyttnäs, The Little Cottage. It is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Northern Europe and if you are interested in Arts and Crafts, it is a paradise beyond time.

Lilla Hyttnäs is not a new, foreign, totally unknown place. It is the garden, rooms, furniture, people, the house… life in Larsson’s works. We already know it and have seen it in Larsson’s paintings. We are all familiar with Lilla Hyttnäs. We already know how it feels. Now, we are experiencing it. Visiting Lilla Hyttnäs is nothing but walking inside Larsson’s paintings.

Lilla Hyttnäs is located in the countryside in Falun, approximately a three-hour ride from Stockholm, Sweden. It has a beautiful garden neighboring a lake, offering all the beauty and calmness of the Scandinavian countryside. This cottage was built in 1837 and gifted to the family by Karin’s father in 1888. Then, the family moved in and started to craft and create it further, transforming it into a home for generations to come.

Karin Larsson’s crafts are the incredible details in this house. The Cactus Lamps, red lamps hanging over the dining table, as seen in the painting below, are Karin’s creations.

Commercial Swedish brands still use this particular style. It can be challenging to comprehend how modern, even radical, and youthful Lilla Hyttnäs was for its time. In the late Nineteenth Century, this style was novel and unique. In our modern eyes, the Cactus Lamps look typically Swedish, but we forget that the Swedish style was primarily created in this house, along with a definition of modernity. This house is where the iconic Swedish style was invented.

In Lilla Hyttnäs, dark green and red are the prominent colours. These colours were chosen for living in. Green and red are the colours of life. Being surrounded by them gives the feeling of being supported and protected. This feeling also relates to the Swedish concept of hygge, the peace and coziness that helps you survive long and cold winter nights.

In Larsson’s paintings, Lilla Hyttnäs is always depicted as an active place filled with children, fun and life. It must have been so, bearing such a large family. I believe Lilla Hyttnäs was filled with laughter and joy.

Lilla Hyttnäs is a living example of how art can be incorporated into our daily lives. Maybe art is not only for contemplation and meditation but also for bringing it into our daily lives to support life and provide space for new life to be born and grow.

To learn professional drawing techniques,