Jonas Lindqvist
Ett Hem is the Stockholm hotel that rewired what a luxury city hotel could feel like: a 1910 Arts and Crafts townhouse in the quiet residential streets of Lärkstaden, run deliberately as a home rather than a hotel, with interiors by Ilse Crawford’s Studioilse that have influenced design hotels worldwide. There is no lobby scene, no concierge desk theatre and no branding exercise at check-in. Instead there is a kitchen you can wander into, a garden behind a brick wall, and rooms that feel collected over decades rather than installed last season. For travellers who care about design, it remains one of Europe’s essential small hotels.
Quick Facts
- Address: Sköldungagatan 2, Lärkstaden, Östermalm, Stockholm
- Setting: A 1910 townhouse, built for a government official and his wife, in a quiet embassy quarter street
- Design: Creative direction and interiors by Studioilse, Ilse Crawford’s studio, for owner Jeanette Mix
- Model: A home first and a hotel second, with shared kitchen, library, living spaces and a walled courtyard garden
- Size: Deliberately small; sources differ on the current room count following expansion, so confirm the current layout on the official site when booking
- Rates: Not stated here; Ett Hem publishes current rates only through its own booking channels, checked 10 November 2026
What makes Ett Hem different from every other design hotel?
The name is the brief: ett hem means “a home” in Swedish, and the house takes it literally. The building dates from 1910, designed by architect Fredrik Dahlberg for a government official and his wife, a collector of Swedish objects, textiles and furniture in the spirit of Karin Larsson. The official history of the house emphasises that duality in its architecture: robust, dark timber lined rooms for public life, and lighter, summery upper rooms in the Carl Larsson tradition of Scandinavian domestic interiors. Studioilse’s design, created for Jeanette Mix, built directly on that inheritance rather than erasing it.
The result is a hotel furnished the way a confident private house is furnished: a mix of vintage and contemporary pieces, Swedish antiques alongside modern design, art and objects with visible histories, sheepskin, oak, marble and brass used warmly rather than as luxury shorthand. Rooms are individually composed, as bedrooms in a house would be, rather than repeated from a brand template. This is why Ett Hem is name-checked so often by designers: it demonstrated, years before the current wave of residential-style hotels, that intimacy and irregularity could be the luxury.
How do the shared spaces and the kitchen actually work?
The social centre of Ett Hem is its kitchen and dining spaces, run on the logic of a house rather than a restaurant. Guests eat where and when suits the rhythm of the house, food is rooted in Swedish seasonal cooking, and the boundary between guest areas and domestic areas is intentionally soft. There is a library and sitting rooms arranged for reading and conversation rather than laptop camping, and the courtyard garden, described by the hotel itself as a secret city wilderness, functions as an outdoor room in summer, used for coffee, wine and quiet as much as for meals.
This model will not suit everyone, and that is part of the point. Travellers who want a large spa, a gym complex, room service theatre and a bar scene should book elsewhere in Stockholm and be happier. Ett Hem offers calm, beauty and a sense of being hosted, and it protects that atmosphere by staying small. Demand reflects it: for popular dates, booking well ahead through the hotel’s own site is the reliable route.
Where exactly is it, and what is Lärkstaden like?
Ett Hem stands on Sköldungagatan in Lärkstaden, a small-scale residential enclave within Östermalm, Stockholm’s smart eastern district. Lärkstaden’s streets were laid out from 1907 in the national romantic style, with brick townhouses, small gardens and bird names for many blocks, a deliberate contrast to the grander apartment boulevards around it. The area is quiet at night, embassies and residences rather than nightlife, and it is roughly a 15 minute walk from Stureplan and the central shopping streets, with Östermalm’s food hall, the Saluhall, also within easy reach.
That location defines the stay. You return each evening to a residential street rather than a hotel district, and the city days, Djurgården’s museums, Gamla Stan’s old town, the waterfront, sit a walk or short ride away. Travellers who like to feel resident rather than processed will rate this as the hotel’s second great asset after its interiors.
Who does Ett Hem suit best, and who should book elsewhere?
Ett Hem suits design literate couples, solo travellers seeking quiet, and anyone marking an occasion where the setting matters more than facilities. It suits repeat visitors to Stockholm who have done the grand hotels and want the city at domestic scale. It suits readers, writers and slow travellers: the house is built for mornings that unfold rather than itineraries that sprint.
It is a weaker fit for families needing extensive facilities, for travellers who rely on a full-service spa and fitness centre, and for anyone whose Stockholm plan revolves around nightlife on the doorstep. It is also, by design and by demand, a considered purchase rather than an impulse one; check current rates and room types on the official site at etthem.se before setting your budget, and compare its residential model with larger design led properties in our guides to The Plaza Hotel in New York and The Datai Langkawi, two very different answers to the same question of what luxury accommodation should feel like.
How should you book and time a stay?
Book direct on the official site, where room descriptions reflect the fact that rooms are individual rather than standardised, and where the hotel can note occasions and preferences in a way that fits its house model. Stockholm rewards late spring and summer, when the garden is in use and the evenings are long, and early autumn, when the city is back in full cultural swing. Winter stays lean into exactly what the house does best: dark timber rooms, candlelight logic and a warm kitchen at the centre of things. Whenever you go, plan one evening with no reservation across the city. Ett Hem is at its best when you let the house itself be the plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many rooms does Ett Hem have?
Ett Hem is deliberately small, and published counts differ between sources following the property’s expansion beyond the original townhouse rooms. Rather than rely on a third party figure, check the current room and suite layout on the official site when you book; whichever count is current, the scale remains that of a private house, not a conventional hotel.
Who designed Ett Hem?
The creative direction and interiors are by Studioilse, the London studio founded by Ilse Crawford, working for owner Jeanette Mix. The design builds on the 1910 house itself, designed by Fredrik Dahlberg, and on the Swedish Arts and Crafts and Carl Larsson domestic traditions the original owners loved.
Is Ett Hem in a good location for sightseeing?
Yes, with a residential character. It sits in Lärkstaden, Östermalm, about a 15 minute walk from Stureplan and the centre, close to Djurgården’s museums and the Östermalm food hall. It is quiet at night, which most guests count as a benefit.
Does Ett Hem have a restaurant?
It has a kitchen and dining spaces run on a house model rather than as a conventional hotel restaurant, with seasonal Swedish cooking for guests. The garden serves as an additional dining and sitting space in warmer months. Confirm current dining arrangements for your dates on the official site.
Featured image: Lärkstaden, the Stockholm neighbourhood where Ett Hem stands, in spring. Photo by Koyos, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The image shows the neighbourhood, not the hotel itself.
