Falsterbo

Villa Wehtje

This is one of six villas in Sweden designed by Josef Frank. Of these, five are in Falsterbo. The Villa is masterfully constructed with an irregular and distinctive functionalism that is both soft and indulgent. This was Frank’s intention. “When one walks through a house, it should be as if one is moving through a city. Narrow alleys open onto sweeping spaces that lead to new passages. With varying ceiling heights and floor levels that resolve into one another, an intimate sense of space is created.”

The villa has had only two owners since it was built, with the current owner having been in possession of the house since 1946. Covering an enormous 325 m2, the villa is designed for the large family that loves to entertain. A host of fine details, in the form of fixtures and fittings, joinery, windows and doors, together with splendid natural light, delightful south and west-facing terraces, beautiful open fireplaces and the large lounge, make this a truly unique home. This is a grand, originally pink-rendered, summer villa ideal for entertaining. However, it is also a home between two owners. Villa Wehtje is in need of a new owner who is prepared to renovate and fill the house with life once again. The building is listed with regard to the exterior design, although the existing cladding can be removed to expose the original pink render. A thorough survey of the property has been undertaken, confirming that Villa Wehtje is an extremely solidly constructed building and is in good condition. The electrics, pipes and heating system do however need replacing and a new bathroom and new kitchen are required.

Floorplan

Simply entering the hallway is sufficient to reveal the architect of this home – greeting visitors as it does with its impressive large, round window and black and white chequered floor. From the hallway, we enter the living wing, with floor-to-ceiling windows that bring the garden into close proximity. It is with a feeling of delight that one continues further into the house. Frank’s architecture is just as practical today as it was 70 years ago. The living area consists of a dining room with space for 20 people, and the elongated lounge with its large bay window and open fireplace along one of its short sides. The lounge has two exits to the garden and the adjoining patios. Next to the hallway is the staircase to the upper floor, which overlooks the lounge. The upper floor consists of two living rooms, with open fireplace and exit to two terraces – one south and one west facing. The west-facing terrace is currently glazed with an east-facing wall. On the ground floor, beside the dining room, there is a large, functional kitchen, a service room with dishwasher, a maid’s chamber and a utility room. Here, there is another small room and the stairs down to the small cellar – consisting of a storeroom and a boiler room. The kitchen wing has its own entrance from the rear of the house. The bedroom wing, situated in the east of the property, has a full six bedrooms, including a master bedroom with a spacious dressing room and en suite bathroom. The bedroom wing also includes a pleasant lounge with an open fireplace and exit to the garden. All bedrooms are equipped with a washbasin with hot and cold running water.

Other

The garden covers a full 2,242 m2 and is situated on the southwest side of the house. It provides abundant vegetation and includes a Japanese garden, a beautiful rolling lawn and a playhouse – also designed by Josef Frank. Delightful Falsterbo Beach is a long stone’s throw from the house and the golf course, one of Sweden’s most renowned, is only a few hundred metres away.

Josef Frank

Josef Frank was one of the pioneers of modernism during the 1910s and ‘20s in Vienna. In Sweden, he is best known for his fabric and furniture designs in collaboration with Firma Svensk Tenn, although he was also an extremely significant architect. Frank grew up in Vienna in a Jewish family, with a textile-merchant father and an artist mother who, among other things, created textile patterns. Trained as an architect at the Vienna College of Technology, he went on to establish himself in Vienna, including as a professor of building design. He also designed furniture and textiles for his own company, Haus & Garten. His earlier work includes a workers’ housing project outside Vienna from 1919-21.

Parallel to this, Josef Frank also undertook commissions from wealthier families, including the famous Villa Beer in Vienna, built between 1929-31 and considered to be one of the early twentieth century’s most important modernist buildings. Together with Oscar Wlach, Frank exhibited the Model 2025 chair at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. The seat was in wicker and the back in bamboo. Today, the chair model is a cornerstone of Svensk Tenn’s range. Frank began to design furniture and textiles for his own interior designs as early as 1910. He made the acquaintance of Estrid Eriksson, founder of Svenska Tenn, in the late 1920s. In 1933, he was forced to flee Austria and, together with his wife, he arrived in Stockholm. Between 1939 and 1947, he worked in the United States but returned to Stockholm. There, he primarily worked with furniture and interior design, producing furniture, wallpaper patterns and textile prints for Svensk Tenn. In his later years, Josef Frank put aside pattern designing and took up watercolour painting. He died in 1967 and is represented in the National Museum in Stockholm and the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg.