"The Snellman house, begun in 1917 on the outskirts of Stockholm, was one of the pioneering works of the Nordic neo-classical revival. It was also the first major work of Erik Gunnar Asplund. In the Snellman house Asplund not only reinterpreted Swedish neo-classical design traditions but also displayed a great sensitivity to the possibilities offered by the site, creating a house that is elegant, functional and full of quiet inventive wit."

— Dan Cruickshank, Ed. AJ Masters of Building, Erik Gunnar Asplund. p20.

"With the recent, post-modernist rediscovery of Swedish classicism of the 1920s, this small villa, with its sophisticated simplicity, has become a place of pilgrimage for architectural afficionados from all over the world."

— Claes Caldenby and Olof Hultin. Asplund. p54.

The Creator's Words

"The building is an attempt to accommodate a modern home in a structure one-and-a-half rooms wide. The one-room width, formerly used in the 'paired cottage', and its descendants is not really equal to modern requirements as regards ancillary spaces, heating and communication. And the two- or two-and-a-half-room width occasionally used instead has a number of drawbacks such as the lack of sunlight or an attractive view in one or other room, dark corridors on the upper floor and in every way less access to light."

"The interiors have been kept very simple. The dining room, lower hall, smoking room, staircase and gallery were distempered first and then spattered or marbled. The round upstairs hall is lined with vertical panelling, with mouldings on both walls and ceiling, stained deep greyish-brown..."

— Gunnar Asplund from Claes Caldenby and Olof Hultin. Asplund. p54.

Details

The ground floor height is 2.6 m, the upper floor bedroom height is 2.5 m, "the gallery" height is 2.2 m and the upper hall height is 3.2 m.