Something other than home

At the end of the road the view opens up over Ålands hav, with islets, shoals and skerries. Here Eva and Öyvind found an undeveloped plot two years ago. With their own bathing cliffs and beach. Now three houses are part of Sommarnöjens collection Sommar on the headland, surrounded by birches and pines alternately. From the water they are barely visible. But from the inside you can only see the sea.

Everyone in the Michelsen family was involved in the design of the three houses. A main building of 90 sqm, a guest cottage of 35 sqm and a small shed. A dream for Öyvind has always been to be able to wake up and see the sea from bed. Sommarnöjen investigated together with the family how the house could best be placed on the plot to make that possible. The children Meja and Mira made it their task to check that the dream view existed not only in one room – but in all.

The main building contains two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living area. The kitchen and dining room are open and surrounded by large expanses of glass. That makes nature feel present even indoors. The guest cottage has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a smaller kitchen. Later it will become a place for the children to have a bit of privacy. The small shed has space for storage, but water has also been brought in there. Sea water is brought in and purified, which makes proper toilets possible. Otherwise it is difficult to achieve in an archipelago environment.

"It's modern with all the comforts and relatively maintenance-free," says Öyvind.

It was also important that the houses should be perceived as timeless. Both so that the country property would feel relevant for the daughters in the future, and so as not to stand out too much from the site. The guiding words were sober, simple and Nordic. Externally, the choice fell on a straight design with sloping roofs and no eaves. Inside, walls and floors are covered with vertical white-painted wood panelling, in Sommarnöjens interior style Calm.

"Even though it's comfortable, it's a summer house. Something other than home."

The family has saved a project they want to do themselves, for the sake of pleasure. Next summer they will build a custom-designed veranda onto one of the house's three entrances. That way they'll have a Sommar 90 like no other.

The house the family chose is called Modern Sommar 90.