Why we fell in love with Sweden!

Started with a vacation, followed by a dream

It started with a new vacation destination. After visiting several countries, we'd never been to Sweden. It would be an orientation vacation, or perhaps we could get used to living here. We were at the point where we were looking for a new challenge in life. A planned vacation of all the areas we wanted to visit. The northernmost place we wanted to visit was Jämtland. The dream came true.

Welcome, we are Fred and Sonja!

Who are we? We are Fred and Sonja from the Netherlands, and since 2024 we have lived in the beautiful, rural village of Hammarstrand in the municipality of Ragunda (Jämtland), central Sweden.
After 23 years of running an audiovisual company in the Netherlands, we wanted to embark on a new adventure. We were looking for more space and tranquility. We were done with the hectic pace of life in the Netherlands. In 2022, we visited Sweden for the first time at the campsite in Hammarstrand and immediately fell in love with the area. The peace, the space, the beautiful nature, the lovely hiking trails and sights were decisive factors in our decision to sell our house in the Netherlands.
On to a new adventure, on to writing a new book in our lives, a new challenge.
We quickly found our place on the edge of the village. It feels good, and this is where we want to grow old. So what are we going to do in Sweden? We already knew: we are going to rent out a holiday home and offer fun activities. On our property stands a timber frame house from the 1980s, and in early 2025, we started renovating it. We have a Pippi Longstocking attitude: "I've never done it before, so I think I can do it." We're so proud. A few months later, a beautiful holiday home called Villa Ragunda was built.

The story of Villa Ragunda

When we arrived in Sweden, we bought our current house after two months. This house also included an old cottage, which we converted into what is now Villa Ragunda. We have some foto's of the renovation process.