Finding out the location	very hard
Access	very easy
Safety	unsafe
Risk of being seen	very high
General condition of the place	very bad
Traces of vandalism	many
Good place for taking pictures?	very good
Did you see other people?	none or very few

Visit date    May 10 2016 at 16 hr
Visit duration    2 hours

THIS PLACE DOES NOT EXIST ANY LONGER.

Abandoned summer houses in the deep forest of the north.

By a small lake, hidden behind old apple trees and high grass a few small houses are concealed. The place was known as “Maidens grove” in the early 19th century. Maybe it got its name because there were two women living here, a mother (Anna, born 1835) and her young daughter (Sigrid, born 1861). On the land there was also a lighthouse keeper (Johan, born 1874; he was not related to the women it seems), and further away there was a small light house on a high rock. Other than that, this location was far apart from other settlements (about 10 kilometers away from the closest farm, which was a long was to go by horse at that time).

It’s a mystery that these small houses were built here so desolate from the closest village. The inhabitants had few animals (chicken and maybe a pig) and a big garden with apple and cherry trees. Fishing was important for the people living here. The original house was a typical Swedish log cabin painted red with white windowsills and straw roof. Just next to the house there was a high wooden fence around an apple tree. It looks too high for a pig and too small of an area for a horse. Maybe the fence was to protect the fruit trees from elks. Elks are very common in Sweden; we have about 300 000 nowadays.

“Maidens grove” is first described in text the year 1800, it was only mentioned as a “hut” by the land registers. The original house burned down in 1818 but were rebuilt and Annas daughter Sigrid lived here until her death in the 1940s. After that it looks like someone used the houses as summer houses. I found old newspapers on the ground from August 13th, 1981. The article was about the police chase of a famous Swedish criminal. In another newspaper I read about poor Bertha who was cheated on her winnings that she won from betting on horses. The houses are now torn down and the place will start a new history soon.

On my visit the main house was in quite bad shape. The roof was falling in and the floors were unsteady. The newer house closer to the lake has been renovated not too long ago, maybe in the 1990s or early 2000. Although in the middle of the renovation it seems like they just stopped. Walls, floors and windows were new and preparations for a kitchen were made. They even put in some modern furniture like a couple of chairs, a sofa and a mattress.

Someone has been staying there overnight but I don’t know if it was the workers, the owner or someone who didn’t have a home. Although after this someone came here and trashed the newer house, crashed the big front windows facing the lake. Seems like they were having a party. Really sad to see. I don’t mind the street art in the older house but why break the windows?

I’m happy to have found this much information of the former inhabitants of this place. This is a big reason why I love urbex: to learn about buildings history and about the people that lived or worked there. It’s a shame this beautiful place was abandoned but I’m happy to hear that the areas future look bright.

See more photos on Instagram: @StarkUrbex https://www.instagram.com/starkurbex/

CHECK MY VIDEO FROM THE PLACE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRnGdRiRGhY


  Text and photos are by StarkUrbex_. Click here to see StarkUrbex_'s profile and other reports.

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