Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland
Fermes décorées de Hälsingland
About
Seven timber houses are listed in this site located in the east of Sweden, representing the zenith of a regional timber building tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages. They reflect the prosperity of independent farmers who in the 19th century used their wealth to build substantial new homes with elaborately decorated ancillary houses or suites of rooms reserved for festivities. The paintings represent a fusion of folk art with the styles favoured by the landed gentry of the time, including Baroque and Rococo. Decorated by painters, including known and unknown itinerant artists, the listed properties represent the final flowering of a long cultural tradition.
Outstanding Universal Value
The nominated property is considered to be of Outstanding Universal Value as a cultural property for the following reasons:
· The selected decorative farmhouses of Hälsingland represent an outstanding collection of some 1,000 well preserved farmhouses with around 400 decorative rooms still in situ.
· The density of intact preserved decorated rooms is unparalleled within the entire Northern Taiga.
· The seven selected farms, dating from 1800 to 1870 which constitute the peak of this cultural expression, are outstanding examples of how independent farmers within a small geographical area combined a highly developed building tradition with a rich folk art tradition in the form of decoratively painted interiors in rooms used for celebrations.
· These decorated farms bear witness to a culture that has disappeared today but has been preserved in an exceptional way.
