Financial Times Europe - 19.10.2019 - 20.10.2019

18 ★ FTWeekend 19 October/20 October 2019

allow visitors to enjoy the farm and its

events programme, but as the frosts of

October begin to nipanother creative

season comes to an end. Plants and

sculptures are brought in under cover

and the doors close until the beginning

of March when visitors are invited back

to enjoy the blooming of Gunillaberg’s

extensivecamelliacollection.

Andersen came to public attention

asaflorist—notablyworkingforDanish

Queen Margrethe’scourt — and creative

designer of surreal, sculptural installa-

tions. He avoids the term “artist”,con-

sidering himselfa craftsman, and works

mainly inmetal, wood and glass. How-

ever, while the estate is strewn with

artworks it was his love of animals that

provided the impetus for his move to

thepicturesqueSmaland.

In the fields bordering the car park

at Gunillaberg stands a herd of

Fjallnara cows — an old Swedish dairy

breed with beautiful, dappledmark-

ings.Cows were Andersen’s earliest pas-

sion.When he was a child, the man

across the road had “the most beautiful

cows”, he says. To complement this

herd, Andersen also inherited a

number of diminutive, black cattle

The café

(Main picture)

Andersen with

freshly picked

lilies; (below)

Gunillaberg

manor

Photographs by Phillip Huynh

His love of animals

provided the impetus for

his move to the picturesque

landscapes of Smaland

Beauty and

the beasts

Gardens Tage Andersen’s Gunillaberg estate in|

Denmark is adorned with local livestock breeds

alongside artworks and flowers. ByJonny Bruce

House Home

I

just like to do things myself,” says

Tage Andersen, exasperation

creeping into the voice of this Dan-

ish septuagenarian. For the past 11

years Andersen has been doing just

that at his unusual rural home, Gunilla-

berg — a small 7th-century estate 1 an

hour and a half east of Gothenburg.

Alreadyestablished as a creative force

in Scandinavia, Andersen has turned

thetraditionalexpectationsofafarmon

itshead.

While most farmers are concerned

with maximising the practical utility of

their land, at Gunillaberg beauty takes

precedence. The long summer days

OCTOBER 19 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 16/10/2019- 17:41 User:elizabeth.robinson Page Name:RES18, Part,Page,Edition:RES, 18, 1