Imagine artists gathering here decades ago. Bergshyddan is a building on Södermalm in Stockholm. It sits on Fåfängan’s northern slope facing Masthamnen. Since 1986 Stockholm uses Bergshyddan as a gathering place. It also serves as a summer residence for the city’s Nordic cultural collaborations.
Bergshyddan’s history connects to Patons malmgård. James Paton a Scottish shipowner created it in 1839 near Fåfängan. In 1863 Paton requested to connect a house with an existing wooden house there. This created Bergshyddan also known as “Fjällstugan”. James Paton’s neighbors included Lars Johan Hierta, Frans Schartau and Carl Fredrik Liljevalch. Their children played together. Schartau’s family lived in Fjällstugan for a while. After Paton’s death in 1867 his widow inherited the property. Later his son and son’s brother-in-law divided the property.
In the early 1900s Bergshyddan became an artist meeting place. Craftsman and painter Henrik Krogh and his wife Ingrid moved in 1914. They lived there year-round. The house lacked water gas and electricity. But it had a telephone installed in the 1890s.
The cliff landscape on Fåfängan’s eastern side changed. The blasting of the Danvik Canal in the 1920s caused this change. The rock slope moved closer to Bergshyddan as Masthamnen’s quay area widened. In 1955 the house hosted the exhibition “Artists on Söder”. After Ingrid Krogh’s death in 1958 Bergshyddan again became a summer residence. It stayed within the same family.
In 1982 the run-down Bergshyddan was renovated. Stockholm’s property office managed it. The city became the owner. Since 1986 Stockholm offers artists from other Nordic capitals a scholarship. They can stay in the house for a short time during the summer. Bergshyddan stands as a testament to artistic history and Nordic collaboration. It blends its past with its present-day role.