Ranae's Swedish-Chicago Heritage: The little red buildings of Sweden

Mar 6, 2016

The little red buildings of Sweden

Cousin Sally Thomas exclaimed "I love so many red buildings" in a recent email. It got me to wondering. It did seem like an inordinate amount of the Swedish homes, particularly in the country were red. I was convinced this was more than coincidence. There must be an explanation, even a reason for all the little red farm homes. Besides the obvious, that red is a cheerful, even happy color.

Once again I consulted my good friend Google. I thought someone else might also be interested.

Sweden has its own special color! It's called "Falu red" (Falu rödfärg in Swedish). This color has widely been used in Sweden since the 1700's. In the Falun area of the region of Dalarna there are copper mines. The cast off refuse from the mining lay in piles of dust around the mines. Nothing would grow for miles around the opening of the mines but it was noticed that a piece of wood cast into this product didn't rot as quickly as other wood. The natural red pigment had properties which protected the wood from the elements, prolonging its life. The pigment, formerly a cheap unwanted byproduct, soon was used widely as the paint on the classic Swedish wooden houses of the farmers and poor laborers. By the end of the nineteenth century because of its low cost and use by the lower classes those who were or wished to appear more prosperous began to paint their homes white.

I just knew that with the Swedes it had to be a practical, economical choice.
And............ its pretty.