This 18th-Century Barn in Sweden Is Now a Functional Modern Farmhouse

Sara Lerner, founder of interior design studio Palta Studio, was living in Stockholm in March 2021, working a corporate job in tech, and feeling pent-up pandemic energy. At the time, she had run out of projects for her apartment and was craving more space, creative outlets, and a garden. Spending every summer visiting friends’ homes in Gotland had allowed Sara to form a special connection to the island, which is characterized by pine forests, white sand beaches, long grass, and rolling fields reminiscent of her childhood summers in Cape Cod and Maine.

On one particularly dreary winter afternoon in Gotland, Sara found herself driving down a winding dirt road when she stumbled upon an 18th-century barn. The location—just five minutes from the beach and nestled among the island’s beloved sheep farms—was an instant draw. “The property was sprawling and overgrown, a large plot with apple, plum, and cherry trees, and giant hundred-year-old trees trailing a winding dirt road from the ocean,” the designer recalls.

After having successfully flipped three Stockholm apartments, she saw the potential for the old barn, so without even stepping inside, she made an offer on the spot. “When I bought the house, it had a dilapidated 18th-century salt cellar, once used to cure root vegetables for winter,” she explains. “An addition in the 1960s added a plumbing line to build a kitchen and bathroom, and a traditional-style cottage room was brought down from the north of the island to be attached as a guest room extension.” The interiors, she adds, hadn’t been meaningfully touched since the 1990s, when original limestone details had been covered over by cheap (now crumbling) plaster. Despite the hard work in store, it was the island’s sense of history, sustainability, and commitment to craftsmanship that made the process of restoring the old home a sort of spiritual exercise.