BACKGROUND

Crawford House is situated in Nederste Kobbel in Grib Forest. It has a view of Kulla Mountain in Sweden.

Grib Forest in the middle ages was home to a combined form of agriculture and forestry. In the forest were small villages with fields and animals grazing underneath the trees. In nearby Sibberup Vang, the old agricultural landscape can be seen as ridge-and-furrow acres. Ridges were created in the center of the long and narrow fields by always letting the soil fall towards the middle of the acre when plowing, thus allowing excess water to be drained away in furrows created at the edges of the acre. By the end of the 17th century King Frederik the 4th, constructed stone banks around Grib Forest and made the peasants abandon their villages, so that the royal hunting could improve. Today Oaks from 1947 surround Crawford House.

In 1917 the Copenhagen writer and theatre critic Sven Lange built this house as his rural retreat. Gilleleje, where he already had a holiday house had become too mundane for him. He lived here with his family, including his daughter, the actress Ruth Lange. Ruth was married to another writer, Tom Kristensen, author of “Hærværk” (“Havoc”). Tom and Ruth went on a cruise to China for their honeymoon. When they returned in 1922, Tom Kristensen wrote “Påfuglefjeren” (“The Peacock Feather”), a collection of poems from China and the novel “En Anden” (“Another”) here.
Photo from the book “Dansende Stjerne” (“Dancing Star”) by Jens Andersen