Summer may be short in Scandinavia but the days seem to stretch forever. Denmark has some of the best beaches in Northern Europe, while Sweden has wide open landscapes, lakes and the startling Stockholm archipelago – perfect for unwinding away from the humdrum of the city. Here are six Scandinavian homes for sale where you can soak up the endless daylight.
Houseboat in Copenhagen’s Holmen harbour
Via Adam Schnack for 4,750,000 DKK
‘Jantje’ hails from Holland and was built in 1910. It now resides in Holmen, Copenhagen, and has been converted into a houseboat – though it’s ready to set sail at any moment. The five-room ship has 120 sqm of living space, while its deck is the ideal spot for soaking up the midsummer rays.
Contemporary island home in the Stockholm archipelago
Via Bjurfors for 12,995,000 SEK
Architect Max Holst designed this five-bedroom home on Sweden’s Ingarö island to follow the landscape’s natural rocky slope. Its two interconnected volumes have a charred timber exterior, while the interiors have high ceilings and tall windows. Outside, you’ll find a private, wraparound terrace and an open-air pool from which to take in the meadow and forest views. Shops and cafés are just a short stroll away down forest paths. Take a tour.
Contemporary Danish villa in Vedbæk
Via Lutzau for 19,000,000 DKK
This sleek contemporary villa in Denmark’s coastal town of Vedbæk was originally built in 1986 but the three-bedroom Scandinavian home was given a complete overhaul in 2010. It looks pretty modest from the outside but step through the villa’s doors and it unfurls as a series of sweeping open volumes.
Light-filled barn conversion in Sweden’s Österlen
Via Fastighetsbyran for 5,995,000 SEK
With the help of a team of carpenters, owner Jonathan Andersson turned two run-down barns – located in the hilly landscape of Tunby, and dating from 1910 – into a contemporary, four-bedroom home with pared-back interiors. Its vaulted living spaces have new clerestory windows and skylights, and open onto verdant countryside. See more of the property.
A summer house in Skagen, Denmark
Via Lutzau for 22,000,000 DKK
The Dutchman’s House was built in 1915 on an elevated spot on the coastline of Skagen. The port town is famed for the quality of its light, which inspired a whole generation of painters in the late 19th century. Architect Ejnar Packness designed its imposing wooden form – holding 173 sqm of living space. It’s the last house on Niels Ottesen Road and looks straight out towards the sea.
1930s fixer-upper designed by Josef Frank
Via ENSY for 25,000,000 SEK
Austrian-born architect and designer Josef Frank may have been one of the fathers of Swedish Modernism yet he only built six villas in the country, five of which are in Falsterbo on Sweden’s south-western tip. One of these has just come up for sale. Villa Wehtje follows an irregular, U-shaped plan – a hallmark of Frank’s reaction against the standardisation of puritanical early Modernist interiors. He preferred a more relaxed approach that responded to the peculiarities of a site. Built in 1936, the house has had the same owner since 1946 and is in need of renovation work. It sits within a Japanese garden – equipped with a Frank-designed playhouse – a stone’s throw from the beach.
