Ett Hem, Stockholm

In short…  In the fourteen years since it opened in a converted 1910 family house near the center of Stockholm, Ett Hem—which translates to A Home—has become something of an adjective. For example, you might say that’s a very Ett Hem breakfast, if the breakfast happens to be entirely homemade down to the cracker, extensively garnished with cheese, jam and fresh lettuces, and brought to you by an intimate friend who you’ve never met before. The word might be defined as “a way of making a hotel so casual, so elegant, so personally appointed that it really does feel like being the invited guest to a Swedish friend’s small mansion (if only you had one).” In the way that there are writers’ writers (W.G. Sebald or Lydia Davis), this is a hotel for people who love to write about, think about and design small hotels.

The surroundings… Nestled on a quiet hill in the Lärkstaden area of Östermalm, Ett Hem and many of its surrounding neighbors are built in the National Romantic style (a Swedish iteration of Arts & Crafts). Embassy row is nearby, as is the 1912 stadium purpose-built for that year’s Olympic Games—the whole neighborhood seems to rhyme. The two houses are adjoined by a courtyard, where a bonfire glows from sunset, which happens at about 3pm in winter.

The backstory… Ett Hem opened as a single verdigris-trimmed brick townhouse with 12 rooms in 2012, a collaboration between the owner, Jeanette Mix, and the studio of English designer Ilse Crawford. In 2022, the house next door was folded in, adding 10 guest rooms, and in 2023, three larger apartments, intended for extended stay, completed the whole.

(NB: Ett Hem is also the name of a beloved book of interiors watercolors from 1899 by the Swedish painter Carl Larsson. He and his wife, Karin, made homes that were deeply comfortable, colorful, handmade—like the Bloomsbury group’s Charleston house, but long before. There was a lot of philosophizing about domesticity and beauty in Sweden in the early 20th century, led by feminist philosopher Ellen Key, whose books Beauty in the Home and Beauty for All I feel sure were consulted by the Ett Hem designers, though I didn’t ask anyone if this was the case! Still, I did read Ilse Crawford say in an interview that Ett Hem began with a question of “how people can feel cared for and valued.”)

The vibe… Ett Hem is a sensual, textured experience, much more than a mere address or quantity of rated stars. The open kitchen is a big theater going all day right at the entrance to one of the houses, the staff wear useful, beautiful linen aprons, they dine at the kitchen table with a candle-lit chandelier for meals between more regular guest hours, and there are several living spaces upon which to settle yourself. It’s a highly social place, with no expectations for your socializing, and where no one is paying overt attention to you—like the best cities.

The houses are filled with the (largely Scandinavian) design collection of the owner, so if the compound phrases “Finn Juhl Pelican chair” or “Aalto for Artek A808 Beehive floor lamp in polished brass” or “Skultuna bottle opener” mean anything to you, you will enjoy testing your inner archive.

Equally, it’s not remotely necessary to know anything about design to feel comfortable here. I have seen a guest snoozing on the sofa more than once, while other people mixed their own cocktails, or read in solitude, while a party was going downstairs.

The rooms… Most of the beds are four-poster, and most of the palettes are neutral, but each room is different. There’s something alive in every room—pots of geranium in spring and summer, and this winter I had a vase of peppermint stick carnations and juniper. The older house (by which I mean the one that opened as a hotel first) has smaller windows and a bit less light, but many of the rooms on that side have ceramic stoves. The neutral tones are offset by a brightly polished brass cabinet for glassware and storage, a design by Ilse Crawford’s studio that rhymes with the larger honor bar cabinets in the living rooms. There are always multiple warm light sources, a brass bowl full of oranges and lemons, and most likely a floor lamp by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn. There is a Dyson hairdryer, and the use of an eponymous bottle of perfume, a bright conifer-noted collaboration with the Argentine perfumer Fuegia, which I partook of liberally.

The food & drink…  Ett Hem has two kitchens, and one of them, in the first house, is only for guests. The dining program expanded five-fold with the opening of the second house, which offers a seven-course set menu nightly, and is always full. Pasta is handmade, as are breads, and there are no menus, just conversations about preferences. Having known and loved the Italian restaurants of New York for half my life, the best pasta meal I’ve had (a venison ravioli preceded by a salad of bitter green & citrus) was here. A single complaint: the coffee. It’s neither good nor strong.

Breakfast is one delight after another, as already mentioned—citrus, fig and yogurt, homemade granola, three fresh breads including, usually, a bun, a roll and a cracker (saffron and cinnamon fill the house), fresh lettuces, thinly sliced cheese and ham, and eggs any way, if you’re not stuffed by then.

The wellness… There is a sizable gym (part of the 2022 addition) and, separately, a wellness suite, composed of a sauna, a shower, a cold bucket, and best of all, a monolithic heat slab for lying on. You can lock the door to have it to yourself. There’s daily yoga at 8am, and massages can be arranged.

Is it kid-friendly? In May, 2023 I brought my daughter, then eight years old. She was welcomed, and she wandered around the place freely and rather quietly, like everyone else. I would encourage anyone to bring their children, or perhaps just their inner child, in December, despite the short light, because the markets are going all over town, as well as the St. Lucia festivities, the auction house Bukowski’s has its major sale, and Ett Hem contains an elaborate miniature gingerbread version of itself.

Extra tip goes to… Nick, who welcomed me with a many-plated breakfast after arrival on the overnight, has been at the hotel for over ten years. Alice, too, is an inextricable part of the texture of Ett Hem. I can only imagine the job description for these roles. There is surely a test of emotional intelligence. The staff here feel more like stewards, acolytes, aides or guides.

Be sure to…  The homemade cakes in the living rooms, the unshelled nuts next to the nutcracker box, the Karl Fazer chocolates wrapped in blue silver in a bowl, the little marzipan to “tomte” Santas if you’re there in December, those are all for you. As are many other excursions you might want to make around the city and its archipelago—you just have to invent what you might want to do, and inquire.

Parting words… The problem with Ett Hem is also the best thing about it—it is singular.

Dates of stay… December 7-9, 2025