Do you want to stay in The 72 Hour Cabin?

Now, Sweden is inviting the rest of the world to wind down in nature like a Swede, making the five glass cabins used in The 72 Hour Cabin project available for everyone to book for a 72 hour stay.

“This morning when I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the lake and the tall trees and I realised that I’m truly here and it’s not a dream! I kept staring at it for a long period of time before finally dragging myself out of the comfy covers,” said Baqer Keshwani, participant in The 72 Hour Cabin project.

In Sweden, where 70 per cent of the country is covered with forest, nature is easy to reach. Three years ago, Visit Sweden launched the ‘72 Hour Cabin’ project, where people with some of the world’s most stressful jobs were invited to experience Sweden’s ‘close to nature’ lifestyle, to see what effect it had on their well-being. It consisted of living in Sweden’s nature for 72 hours, in small cabins made of glass. During their stay, the participants’ well-being was monitored in a case study, developed in collaboration with leading researchers.

Sweden invited five people from Britain, Germany, France and the USA, to live in glass cabins for 72 hours in Sweden’s nature. They came from different walks of life – Marilyne Didier, a taxi driver from Paris; Chris Leadbeater, a journalist from London; Steffi Tauscher, a police officer from Munich; Ben Fogle, a broadcaster from London and Baqer Keshwani, an event co-ordinator from New York.

During their stay, the participants took pleasure in common Swedish outdoor activities, such as swimming and fishing. Their well-being was measured based on parameters such as stress, problem-solving and creativity – and monitored in a case study developed in collaboration with leading stress researchers, Walter Osika and Cecilia Stenfors, from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

The glass cabins are located on Henriksholm Island, two hours north of Gothenburg in Western Sweden. The island is 60% forest and 40% grazing for highland cattle. The glass cabins can be found at three locations: Henriksholm, Baldersnäs and Dalslands Aktiviteter. It is at Henriksholm that the participants of The 72 Hour Cabin case study stayed.

The initiator of ‘The 72 Hour Cabin’ is Visit Sweden, in collaboration with Turistrådet Västsverige (West Sweden Tourist Board). The project took place September 7-10, 2017.

Local design

The five glass houses used by participants in The 72 Hour Cabin really are locally sourced as they were designed by architect Jeanna Berger, daughter of Henriksholm Island owners Staffan and Maria Berger. When Jeanna was ready with the design she handed them over to brother-in-law Jonas Fred Hell and his colleague Robert Fridh from Fridh & Hells Bygg AB construction company in Bengtsfors and they realised her vision.

The 72 Hour Cabin is a real eye-catcher sitting as it does on pillars, amidst the gorgeous Dalsland countryside. Jeanna tells us that she was inspired by the barns they have in Dalsland that she played in as a little girl. “I was raised on Henriksholm and I wanted to somehow pay homage to typically Dalsland nature settings. From the very beginning I decided that the house would stand on pillars so that it did not leave a permanent footprint on the environment. I also like to think that the people who will live in them share the same approach to nature. We want to live in natural settings but leave as small a footprint as possible,” she says.

Promotes play
There is another dimension to putting the houses on pillars; to promote and celebrate playfulness and the complete freedom offered by natural environments. “You can climb up to the house, just like I used to climb trees here on Henriksholm when I was a child,” says Jeanna.

Building a house turned out to be a logistics exercise of the first order. The first prototype was constructed at Fridh & Hells Bygg’s factory in Bengtsfors and then transported to Henriksholm by truck, trailer, boat and quad-bike. “We had to bring a generator, machines and everything else we needed out to Henriksholm. It’s not every day that you build a glass house in the middle of woodland, beside a lake. It took a great deal of planning,” laughs Jonas Hell.

The other houses were built on-site at Henriksholm. The wood was ordered from Bolist in Bengtsfors and the glass from Bengtsfors Glasmästeri. Just five weeks after completing the design the houses were in place on the island

Henriksholm Cabin

Take a walk in the forest, partly a biotope protection area. Rowing or fishing from a traditional rowing boat or from land. Walking tips and a map over paths, a fishing rod and rowing boats is at your disposal and so is a woodheated sauna just by the lake.

Guests will be met by boat at the jetty right below the 1200th century church of Ånimskog and will be taken to the boathouse at Henriksholm Island. A short walk takes you up to the main house, where you will be served with refreshments and be given information about the location of the glass cabins. You will also have an opportunity to take a look at a map of the island. This will be followed by a run-through of the service building Paviljongen, with its kitchen, bathroom and storeroom (where you can leave some of your luggage if you wish). The service building also has charging points for your mobile phone, tablet, laptop or camera battery.

Happy Celery Glass Cabins 

In the middle of Dalsland’s extensive woodlands in West Sweden lie the Happy Celery Glass Cabins – where the peace and tranquillity of the forest and lake reigns. There are two glass cabins here which are both bookable for 72 hours, in other words, three days. The Amethyst glass cabin is in a wooded area surrounded by spruces, rocks and green moss. The Rose Quartz glass cabin is in a more open spot right next to Lake Krokvattnet. Both cabins are a stone’s throw away from the Happy Celery Cafe.

At Happy Celery Glass Cabins everything happens at nature’s pace. Spend the days walking and “forest bathing” in the ancient woodland, row out onto the lake and take a dip in the clear waters, or just breathe in the fresh air as you stand at the door of your glass cabin. Your stress levels will reduce by being surrounded by greenery, and if you really want to get the most out of the utter peace there you can leave your mobiles, laptops or tablets at the information centre by the cafe.

Breakfast and lunch are served to your door and in the evening you can walk to the Happy Celery Cafe for a three course dinner. Everything is made from scratch with natural, and as far as possible, organic ingredients. Everything on the menu is plant based and free from gluten, lactose and sugar.

Dalslands Aktiviteter Cabins

The glass cabins are perched on a rock beside the lake, suitably named Iväg (which in English means ‘away’). From your bed in one of the glass cabins, let your eyes wander slowly across the lake and the forests and allow any thoughts you may have about coping with the stress of day-to-day life to slowly evaporate.

The cabins is located on your very own peninsula, just above the water level, around 800 metres from the Dalslands Aktiviteter restaurant and activity centre. Your nearest neighbour will be a group of teepees, just a stone’s throw away. Otherwise the glass cabins are cut off from the outside world. Why not start off the day by taking the rowing boat out on a dawn fishing trip?

When you arrive at Dalslands Aktiviteter you will be welcomed by a guide. Accompanied by refreshments, you will receive information about what lies ahead of you during the coming days. You will then make your way down to your glass cabin, which is about 800 metres from the activity centre. The guide will show you how everything works – the outdoor toilet, campfire area, rowing boat, bathing area and so on. Activities include kayaking or panning for gold in the Steneby river, trekking on horseback, or a visit to the elk park. You can also take a guided forest tour and learn all about animal tracking and how to start a fire without matches. You can even put your archery skills to the test.

To book your 72 Hour Cabin: https://www.vastsverige.com/en/72hcabin/booking/