County Governor's Residence, Härnösand

From Sundsvall to Härnösand

In 1778 Härnösand became the county town of Västernorrland. For 16 years before that, the county governor had resided in Sundsvall, and the move from there came only after a number of protests. In Härnösand a plot was chosen next to Nattviken at the western end of the main square as the location for the new County Governor's Residence.

Gustav III's travels

The residence in Härnösand is one of the earliest examples of Neoclassical architecture in Sweden, planned and built following Gustav III's travels to France and Italy. During his time abroad, the King encountered the latest trends in Continental architecture, which took its cue from the remains of antique buildings. As soon as Gustav III returned home, he wanted to see the new architecture realised in Sweden. His travels would come to have an extraordinary impact on the development of architecture, sculpture and interior design in late eighteenth century Sweden.

Neoclassicism

Work started on bringing architect Olof Tempelman's vision to life in 1785 and the County Governor's Residence was ready to move into in the summer of 1790. Never before had Härnösand seen a building of this scale and design - 2 1/2 floors, with the main façade facing the square and the rear façade looking out over a planted terrace to the sea.

There are many Neoclassical features to be admired. The colossal pilasters that stretch up the building's two floors fool the eye into seeing a single-storey building, just like a Greek temple. The mezzanine above the pilasters and below the roof replaces the prominent roof beams of the temple.

Major renovation 1928-29

In 1909 it was felt that Tempelman's building was no longer suitable to house the county governor, who moved to Nybergska Huset in Härnösand. It took until the end of the 1920s to come up with a solution to the county governor's housing problem. The residence underwent thorough modernisation under architect F Fagerström, with major changes made to the floor plan and internal structure. For example, a new doorway was created to connect the dining room and music salon. However, Fagerström preserved the original joinery from the 1790s.

At the time, county governor Stenström managed to get funding for fabric and intricately painted wall panels for the salon and decorative limewashed paintwork in the dining room. Artist Yngve Lundström was commissioned to oversee all the painting work, come up with suggestions for the simple decoration of certain rooms and provide colour samples for others.

The residence was reinstated in 1929 in all its glory, with a completely new, individual and cohesive interior displaying high levels of artistry. The joinery of the 1790s was placed in a new context with Yngve Lundström's eighteenth century inspired paintings in the spirit of the 1920s.

Restoration 2000-2001

With no other renovation or holistic intervention carried out on the residence's reception rooms since the 1920s, in 2000 it was decided that the residence should be renovated before the next change of county governor. The National Property Board's aim was to reinstate Yngve Lundström's colour scheme for the reception rooms and grand staircase.

Archive studies and paint scrapings on site offered a good chance of reinstating and interpreting Lundström's colours. The mural in the dining room was knocked away in 1955, which caused a problem. It was necessary to produce an interpretation of Lundström's colour scheme, although the layout could be recreated from a photograph.