The Only Remaining Farmhouse of a 1600s Hamlet

The Only Remaining Farmhouse of a 1600s Hamlet

Photo: Bysmon / Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0 , resized

Investigate the resilience of Karsviks Östergård, the lone remnant of a 1600s hamlet. We look closer at why this single structure endured.

Karsviks Östergård stands as a solitary survivor of a vanished farming village. This site in Norra Ängby was once a thriving hamlet composed of three separate farms: Västergården, Mellangården, and Östergården. While the surrounding settlement faded and the lake Ängbysjön disappeared, this specific location remains for us to examine.

This farmhouse is a log-timbered parstuga. While the neighboring buildings fell silent, this structure persisted as a residence for farmhands and laborers on Åkeshov for a long time. The last inhabitant was Johanna Christina Burman, who lived in the house until 1932 at the age of 75. It remains the only surviving part of the village from the 1600s.

The surrounding landscape offers further evidence for exploration. These fields served as farmland until the 1930s, and the slopes contain moraine deposits typical of the Bromma area. Archaeologists found a platåhus foundation nearby, which points toward even older human activity in the woods above the farm.

Today, the buildings serve a new purpose for Mälarscouterna. The main house and a later side building provide a functional space for scout meetings. This transition preserves the history of the old farm within a modern context, inviting us to continue exploring its enduring story.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Guide me

Hear this story where it happened, along with the others around it. Say how many days you have and what you are into, and we put together a route through these places, with a voice guide telling each story as you arrive.

Guide me

Written by Nik Frost

Discuss this with the author and others

No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.