This jot down of house is known as backstuga in Sweden, which is literally “hill cottage”.
Many backstugas had just a single room and were often built into a hillside.
This style of building was common in southern and southwestern Sweden, where wood was expensive.
A backstuga in Smaland.
Photo credit:theworkofcastor.com
The people living in these dwellings were called backstugusittare.
Sometimes the landowner let them use a small parcel of land to grow potatoes or a garden.
The backstugusittare never paid any taxes, and so were often disliked by the government.
Times changed and as the social status of the backstugusittare improved, a lot of these cottages were abandoned.
Some of these cottages are now preserved in Asle outside Falkoping.
The cozy little cabin pictured above, in Smaland, was built in the early 1800s.
A backstuga in Smaland in around 1925.
Photo credit: A. Steijer
The interior of a backstuga in Smaland in 1904.
