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A picture gallery about ABBA's holiday island.
Stockholm's archipelago contains over
24,000 islands. Viggsö is one of them.
Agnetha and Björn bought a summer
cottage here in 1971, followed in 1974 by Benny and Frida
Also Stikkan Anderson
bought a house on the island in the early 1970s. The three families
spent every free moment in between promotion tours and studio
sessions to relax and to work on new songs.
The fist Viggsö composing sessions
took place late 1972. Björn and Benny had received an invitation to
write an entry for the Swedish melodifestivalen. "Ring Ring"
was written with piano and guitar in the tiny cottage on the island.
Explore the island from above: http://www.geonames.org/3219127/viggsoe.html
http://www.icethesite.com/2010/11/abbas-songwriting-cottage-is-up-for-sale/
The summer cottage where Benny and Björn worked on hits such as Fernando and Dancing Queen has been put up for sale.
It is believed that Björn and Lena currently own both properties. Maybe they just didn’t get over there much this Summer?!
The summer cottage where Benny and Björn worked on hits such as Fernando and Dancing Queen has been put up for sale.
The cottage has played a rich part in
ABBA’s cultural heritage. It has been featured in TV specials, many
pictures and even ABBA The Movie.
The fact that it has been so pivotal in
the ABBA story is borne out by the inclusion of a faithful recreation
of the cottage’s interior in the ABBAWORLD touring exhibition.
The ‘songwriters hut’ belongs to a
larger property on the island of Viggsö in Stockholm’s
archipelago. It is this property, for sale at SEK 7,000,000 and the
property next door that are now for sale.
It is believed that Björn and Lena currently own both properties. Maybe they just didn’t get over there much this Summer?!
http://www.icethesite.com/2011/01/bjorn-and-lena-offer-abbas-songwriting-cottage-to-varmdo/
Following on from the original news that ABBA’s ‘songwriting cottage’ is up for sale comes an intriguing and exciting development reported today by the Swedish press.
Following on from the original news that ABBA’s ‘songwriting cottage’ is up for sale comes an intriguing and exciting development reported today by the Swedish press.
Björn Ulvaeus and his wife Lena have
offered the municipality of Värmdö their famous writers cottage on
Viggsö. The municipality is positive to the plans.
The home for ABBA during the seventies
Both ABBA-couples and their manager
Stikkan Andersson bought properties on Viggsö during the seventies.
In 2007 the Ulvaeus family bought another house on the island from
Stikkan Andersson’s son Lasse Andersson. It is these two properties
that have now been sold. Combined these beach properties are 14,540
square meters in size plus a large water area. The Ulvaeus family
bought a farm in January 2010 on the island of Hölö, outside of
Stavsnäs.
“This is a place with a lot of
history that could be quite good to secure for the general public. It
could possibly be turned into a mini ABBA-museum”, said the head of
the culture department Lena Gullmert.
In December the municipality was
contacted by the well-known real estate broker Christer Magnusson,
who had earlier sold the two Ulvaeus family properties on Viggsö.
“No cottage is a world famous as this
one, so I highlighted this specifically in our ad”, said Christer
Magnusson.
A significant number of ABBA’s hits
were created in this very cottage.
The municipality in tune
The offer came as a very welcome
surprise for Värmdö. The municipality recently announced plans that
to strengthen its brand and to position itself better as a tourist
destination.
We have confirmed to the family that we
are positive and that it would be great if all would indeed work out.
In the ideal scenario we could turn the writers hut into an
attraction with a mini-exposition of objects from the ABBA era, says
newly appointed mayor Stellan Folkesson.
Just before Christmas a meeting was
held between the mayor, the culture department head and the Ulvaeus
family. Initially the idea was that the municipality would get the
opportunity to open the writers cabin to the general public. But
after discussions the agreement was made to leave that decision to
the new owners of the property.
Buyer wants to protect
Photo: Bengt H. Malmqvist, copyright
Premium Rockshot.
Johan Bengtsson, buyer of the Ulvaeus
family property on Viggsö is unaware of the details of the
discussions.
“We think it’s important and have
set as a goal that the cottage shall be protected. We have engaged in
a discussion with the municipality if and if so, how it can be made
available for showings to the public or can be used in another way.
It has to happen though in a way that is satisfactory for all
parties”, he says to NVP.
The Bengtsson family owns several
properties and museums, among others the museum of flight F15 in
Söderhamn. They also invite the general public to “Byarnas Dag”
in the province of Hälsningland once a year.
Initially there were plans to include
the famous writers cottage in the ABBAWORLD exhibition that goes on
at the moment. However the plans were rejected as the location and
its history was seen at least as important as the cottage itself.
“Can be really good”
“It is a memorable place, which in my
opinion is getting more and more interesting as time goes by”, says
Stellan Folkesson.
Real estate broker Christer Magnusson
hopes that the plans for a mini-museum on Viggsö will become
reality: “If done properly, this can be really, really good”, he
says.
Björn Ulvaeus has declined to comment
on the project.
Many thanks to Michel Annink for the
news and the translation.
Related link:
Original Swedish article in NVP Nacka
Värmdö Posten, 18 January 2011.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150250915287075.331789.104684047074&type=3 Screenshots from Coast, when the BBC programme visited Viggsö and the cottage.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150250915287075.331789.104684047074&type=3 Screenshots from Coast, when the BBC programme visited Viggsö and the cottage.
The famous summer cottage where Benny & Björn composed a lot of hits like "Fernando", "Dancing Queen" and "Thank You For The Music". ABBA was filmed on Viggsö for the TV special 1976 "ABBA Dabba Do" and ABBA The Movie.
Stills from the 1976 TV special "ABBA Dabba Do"
ABBA on Benny's boat in 1978
Bjorn returns to Viggsö for the
documentary "The Winner Takes It All" (1999).
The cottage hasn't changed much. The
piano is still there and ready to be played by Benny's magic fingers.
In 2005 Björn and wife Lena bought
this summer house on Viggsö.
A replica of the cottage at the ABBA Museum in Stockholm:
Tourist information about Grinda, the
popular island located east of Viggsö, at
http://www.grindawardshus.se/