History

Margreteholm was originally called Brunebo and can be traced back to 1563. The founder of Margreteholm was Claes Breitholtz, born in 1620 in Tallinn, Estonia. As a young man, he moved to Sweden and became an officer. He attended several wars of that period for Sweden and eventually advanced to Major General. For his efforts, Queen Kristina gave him several farms in Västergötland, among them, Brunebo. Through mergers of some of these farms in the years 1662-70, Margreteholm was formed. The farm was named after Breitholtz's wife, Margareta.

By the middle of the 19th century, Ryfors Bruk, the area surrounding Margreteholm was bought by a talented young man called Gudmund Sager. In 1858, Gudmund died prematurely and left his wife to take care of the farm and their two small sons, Robert and Edward. In 1888, Robert Sager married a Danish countess, Marie Moltke-Huitfeldt, from a Catholic family on Funen and in 1889 their only son Leo was born. Robert bought Margreteholm for Leo in 1914. By 1919, Edward and Robert split their father’s property in two by placing all the buildings and all the plots of land on lots. Robert died later that year, leaving Leo Ryfors Bruk Nedre. In 1922, Leo married Vera Brunner, the daughter of a Russian diplomat, who had come to Stockholm just before the outbreak of the Russian revolution. Vera never returned to Russia again.

In 1924-26, Margreteholm underwent a big renovation, changing all the floors, placing marble chimneys or tiled stoves in all the rooms, and adding two wings to the main wooden house. The architect was French and many parts for the house were imported from abroad; French marble chimneys and the finest English bathrooms. The house is kept today in the original style from 1926. Leo and Vera Sager lived most of the year in their palace in Stockholm and spent the summers at Margreteholm. In 1948, Leo died without leaving an heir, and for 40 years Vera was the owner of the properties. When she passed away in 1988, she had willed the palace in Stockholm to the Catholic church, now the house of the prime minister, and Ryfors Bruk Nedre with Margreteholm to be inherited by the son of a Danish cousin of Leo Sager, the young count Adam Moltke-Huitfeldt. Adam, with great love and respect for the local history and the land, has spent 30 years renovating and heightening the standard on the property. In 2018, Adam handed over the property to his eldest daughter Julie Moltke-Huitfeldt, who after finishing her residency as a doctor, spent 1.5 years living at the farm. After living in London for several years, Julie is now back at Margreteholm with her English husband Todd Dorigo and their daughter Mimi Rose.