Built in 2002 during Gammelgården’s 30th year, this building became a reality after many years of planning, construction, and an investment of over $600,000. This two-story frame building has a full basement, an ADA-compliant elevator, and restrooms. The style is 1850s Swedish Herr Gård (wealthy farmer) with Falun red exterior paint and white trim.
To complement the historic log buildings on the property, care was taken to include many details to “age” the 6,000 square-foot building: hand-wrought iron door hinges and light fixtures; wide-pine board floors and stair treads; slate floors; vertical board-and-batten exterior; and historic Swedish paint colors. The interior colors came from Sweden, and the artwork and furniture are typical Swedish items.
The building interior features the Gathering Room (lobby), Gammelgården Museum of Scandia Butik, restrooms, office, and Passage Room (an exhibit room and classroom/exhibit space).
This two-story, four-bedroom log house was built on this site in 1868 by the Elim congregation, using traditional Swedish style, horizontal-log construction with notched-and-pegged corners. This building is the oldest existing Lutheran parsonage in Minnesota.
Pastors L. O. Lindh and Eric Hedeen and their families lived here until 1884, when it was sold to Swedish immigrant Peter Magnus Nelson and his wife, Louisa Marie Petersdotter Nelson. Peter had served in the Civil War, then returned to Sweden and came to Scandia in 1884. One of their five children, Annie (an infant in 1884), lived in this house until she was 88 years old. In 1972, she sold the house, barn, and property back to Elim Lutheran Church for $7,500 to begin the Gammelgården Museum.
When built, this house included conveniences rarely found in the growing immigrant community, among them were a cistern-fed hand pump in the kitchen and an inside door to the basement root cellar. However, indoor plumbing and central heat were never installed in the house. During the 1930s, Annie and her husband John made improvements, including electricity; Nu-Wood sheathing on all interior walls; hardwood floors for the kitchen, front bedroom, and entry hall; and asphalt exterior shingles.
This first sanctuary of Elim Lutheran Church was built in 1856. Following traditional Swedish horizontal-log construction, more than 200 mixed-hardwood logs were used to build the pegged walls and notched-and-pegged corners. The building was located about two miles south of here. In 1860, the building was moved a short distance and converted to the Hay Lake School. Vertical boards and battens were added to the school’s exterior.
In 1899, the school was sold to Frank Forsell, dismantled, and moved to his Scandia farm. The building was used to store hay until 1981 and was then donated to Gammelgården Museum by Archie and Eunice Forsell. Once more, the structure was dismantled and moved, set on a permanent foundation, and restored by Ernie and Greg Adams. Replica pews were built and installed along with one original pew; and a table used as the altar.
On September 12, 1982, the building was re-dedicated as a sanctuary by Presiding ELCA Bishop Herbert Chilstrom; Elim Pastors Rev. Vergil Anderson and Rev. Tom Miller; and Swedish Royalty Prince Bertil, and Princess Lillian.
With a land patent dated 1855, this house was one of the first immigrant homes built in Scandia. Originally set on Bone Lake, about four miles north of this location, more than 60 trees of mixed woods were felled and shaped by hand for the traditional Swedish construction of horizontal logs with pegged walls and notched-and-pegged corners. Architectural features include a 12-pane glass window, sleeping loft, cookstove, and hand-forged door hinges brought from Sweden.
Upon arrival in the area, a succession of families used the building as a short-term first home. In about 1912, a family of ten bought the land and home and lived here while building a two-story farmhouse. The home then became a granary until 1984, when Russel and Lois Jackson donated it to Gammelgården. The building was moved and set on a foundation. As a preservation method, vertical siding was added in 1996.
The original “bank” barn was built here in 1868 to accompany the pastor’s house and farm acreage. The barn was built into the bank of a hillside for protection and convenience. The lower level of the barn was built of field-and-river rock and faced south for heat and access to the pond for watering the Pastor’s livestock. The upper level of the barn was used for vehicle, tool, and crop storage.
The present barn was constructed in 1879 at the request of Rev. Eric Hedeen. Boards were sawn at the nearby Marine sawmill, the first water-powered sawmill in Minnesota. The property, including the barn, was sold in 1884 to the Peter Nelson family and used until 1971. When roads were widened in the 1990s, the hitching posts were moved from around the Elim Cemetery and Church to this setting.
The Ladugård hosts a Log Cabin pattern barn quilt on the Washington County Barn Quilt Trail.
This small home was built in 1930 by architect Gottlieb Magney as a guest/vacation house along the St. Croix River. Modeled after his family’s peasant home in Sweden, this is a realistic representation of such a home occupied by a three-generation family. Features include a corner fireplace, cupboard-style beds, and traditional exterior Falun red paint with white trim. The clay tile roof is original.
In 1970, the St. Croix was included in the federal Wild and Scenic River System, requiring that the building be relocated. In 1979, the house was gifted to Gammelgården, moved here, and set on a permanent foundation.