Pine Edge Villa

At the far edge of Stockholm archipelago, where pine trees meet granite and the Baltic Sea opens out in layers of blue, grey, and mist, lies Pine Edge Villa. Designed by architect Max Holst for Jonas Ljung and his partner Evelina Björninen, the house was also featured on Grand Designs Sweden 2025. From the first encounter, it carries an unusual clarity.

Every decision followed a clear discipline. Honest materials throughout. Concrete, limestone, glass, and wood.

Evelina grew up on Värmdö, and for Jonas Ljung, the site brought back memories of Kortedala, where he grew up. The bare rock. The twisted pines. From the first climb up the hillside, it felt like home. At the top, the light and rugged landscape create a mood that feels almost Mediterranean. As if from another climate, yet set quietly in the archipelago.

From the ridge, the site falls away in terraces toward the tree line. Early on, there was a shared conviction that the house should give the landscape the leading role, never compete with it. Together with the architect, a full month was spent refining the placement, turning it a few degrees at a time until the sightlines settled into place.

Jonas Ljung and Evelina in their architect-designed home on Värmdö, in the Stockholm archipelago.

Along the long side of the house, large glazed openings bring in the light and allow the landscape to enter the interior.

The straight lines of the architecture meet the softer forms of the landscape, creating a composed tension between the two.

Jonas approached the project with unusual commitment. He immersed himself fully, almost becoming part of the team. Skilled. Attentive. He never made a decision without asking. It changed the nature of the work says Max Holst, Architect.

The couple arrived with a brief of nearly thirty pages. The challenge was never to draw a modern timber volume on a concrete base. The challenge was placement. How to position a house of that scale without the site yielding to it. How to secure sunlight on the terrace. How to open the right views. And still meet the constraints of the detailed plan.

An architect-designed home where timber and raw concrete meet in a restrained composition. Set lightly into the landscape, the house strengthens the connection to the surrounding nature.

The discipline

In a house this restrained, the details become decisive. The meeting of timber and concrete. The way the flashing resolves the upper wall. The way the glazing sits within the concrete frame. They are not always noticed consciously. But they are felt from the moment you enter.

When the architecture is this clear, the demands on everything within it shift. Furniture has to follow the same logic as the house. At Pine Edge Villa, by Crea became a natural choice, not to introduce something new, but to continue what was already there. Solid oak that ages with the house. Surfaces that do not conceal their material. Forms that stand on their own, without explanation.

Through large glazed openings, the house opens toward the archipelago and allows the boundary between inside and outside to soften.

In one of the bathrooms, a spa area is set in limestone. The shower is from Tapwell.

The dining area is visible from nearly every part of the house, so it was treated as part of the architecture. The table and chairs needed to work with the built-in oak interior, yet remain distinct. Present, not absorbed into the wall.

The bar stools became a key point of connection between the kitchen and the room beyond. They occupy that natural in-between place, where someone cooks and someone else lingers nearby. The oak carries a quiet continuity from the stools to the dining table, and on into the built-in interior.

“It’s where we spend most of our time. Dinners with friends. Late evenings. The everyday. The table has become the centre of the house.”

- Jonas Ljung

Ebba bar stool in dark-stained solid oak. Shown in detail.

Inspiration from abroad. Brought home to Scandinavia

Inspired by villas along the French Riviera and in Mallorca, the dining area was shaped to open outward. Toward the pool and terrace. A space where the boundary between inside and outside is allowed to soften.

From hotels in Singapore and Bali came an attention to detail that stayed with them. Honest materials. Clean transitions. Finishes carried through without compromise. The dining area and kitchen are the home’s semi-public rooms, where daily life unfolds slowly and people tend to stay. It made sense to choose furniture shaped with the same care.

Ann dining table paired with Erik chairs.

“You see it in the details. When furniture is made with care, and when it isn’t. It’s no different from architecture. Jonas and Evelina understood that. That’s why every decision holds together, from the concrete base to the bar stool.”

- Max Holst, Architect

Modern kitchen with wooden table and chairs near a large window.

Wooden dining table and chairs in a modern room with large windows.

A composed interplay between solid oak and restrained architecture. Clean lines that support the calm of the room. A design where material and proportion remain central.

Wooden chair with woven backrest in a room with large windows overlooking a scenic view.

The Erik chair in solid oak is placed toward the landscape, becoming an extension of the material and tones outside. Its restrained form allows light, view, and the grain of the wood to settle into a quiet whole.

We’re building for the next thirty years, not the next season. That principle shaped the whole house, furniture included. From the beginning, all storage was planned as built-in. In a house this restrained, that kind of order is essential. It means you can sit at the table in the morning, look out toward the pines, and let the room remain quiet around you.

What defines a home

We built for ourselves, and for the long term, with materials and furniture we genuinely believed in. Not because every decision was perfect, but because each one was made with the right intention, says Jonas Ljung.

The house and the furniture are made to be lived with. Coffee gets spilled. Someone pours a glass of red wine too quickly. That’s part of it. The intention was never to preserve it, but to use it. To live in it, not alongside it.

We built for ourselves, and for the long term, with materials and furniture we genuinely believed in. Not because every decision was perfect, but because each one was made with the right intention, says Jonas Ljung.

The house and the furniture are made to be lived with. Coffee gets spilled. Someone pours a glass of red wine too quickly. That’s part of it. The intention was never to preserve it, but to use it. To live in it, not alongside it.

Architecture is never better than its client. When the client gives a project the budget, the time, and the room to develop properly, it becomes very difficult to fail. Jonas and Evelina were exactly that kind of client, says Max Holst.

Longevity is a guiding principle in every decision, furniture included. When you choose quality, it lasts better. It may cost more in the moment, but it often stays with you far longer. In a house like this, that is what matters.

Architecture is never better than its client. When the client gives a project the budget, the time, and the room to develop properly, it becomes very difficult to fail. Jonas and Evelina were exactly that kind of client, says Max Holst.

Longevity is a guiding principle in every decision, furniture included. When you choose quality, it lasts better. It may cost more in the moment, but it often stays with you far longer. In a house like this, that is what matters.