The building in the courtyard was built by trader and shipowner C.E. Carlström as a bakehouse with flour and fruit storage rooms.
History
This plot belonged to the consul, trader and shipowner Carl Emil Carlström (1818-1889) and his son Alfred Carlström (1851-1910), a trader, shipowner and banker. Father and son were members of the Kristinestad business elite in the shipping era. They both had influence at national level and Alfred was a member of the Diet of the Grand Duchy of Finland.
The bakehouse was part of an assembly of residential buildings, outbuildings and warehouses owned by the Carlströms. Carl Emil Carlström’s residence was situated where you today find the redbrick block of flats. Still standing today are Alfred Carlström’s residence, the present-day Brahegården in Östra Långgatan, Strandgatan 41 d (the building at the street) and the bakehouse, number 41 c.
Up to 1889, Carlström’s customers and the clerks working for him seem to have spent considerable time in the building, as their scribblings and signatures can be found all over the walls of one of the rooms. Many of these people lived and worked in Kristinestad their whole lives, while others can be traced to various places in Finland and even as far as Boston.
Alfred Carlström took pleasure in travelling in a four-span horse cart and and employed professional horse drivers all the way from Stockholm. One of them was Oskar Leonard Nilsson who, together with his wife and child, were the first inhabitants of the house after it had been converted into a residential building in 1900.
Another inhabitant (1917-1923) was Emil Weckström, who earlier had been shipmaster on the s/s Hyllos of Kristinestad, one of the largest steamships in Finland in its time.
Building history
1873
Constructed as a bakehouse with a room layout typical for the region, with store rooms and bedrooms. The fruit store room was probably used for apples, but the Carlströms were also able to import lemons and other exotic fruits. In the late 19th century, the facade was a greyish green, with six-paned windows.
1900
Conversion into a residential building, with a new tin roof, an added porch and windows typical for the period.
1950’s-1970’s
A boiler room is built in the cellar and the house is divided into two apartments.
2020
Restoration with the year 1900 as a reference point. Renewal of roof, floors, insulation etc.
Text: Staffan Martikainen
