Brucebo

Brucebo
Brucebo nature reserve
Location	Själsö, Väskinde, Gotland
Nearest city	Visby
Coordinates	57°41′5″N 18°20′52″E / 57.68472°N 18.34778°E / 57.68472; 18.34778Coordinates: 57°41′5″N 18°20′52″E / 57.68472°N 18.34778°E / 57.68472; 18.34778
Area	35 ha (0.35 km2)
Created	1970
Operated by	Gotland County
Open	All year
Designation	Natura 2000

Brucebo is an artists estate in Själsö, Väskinde on Gotland, Sweden, created by William Blair Bruce and his wife Carolina Benedicks-Bruce. The estate later became a nature reserve and an art museum managed by the Brucebo Foundation. The Bruce and Benedicks legacy also includes the Brucebo Fine Art Scholarship for young Canadian artists.

In 2008, a shooting occurred at Brucebo in connection with establishing the museum.

Brucebo was originally a summer house bought by William Blair Bruce and his wife Carolina Benedicks-Bruce. The estate is situated 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Visby on Gotland, Sweden. In 1900–06, the couple added a large extension to the small main house on the estate. The house was built in the neo-romantic style of the early 1900s. The new part of the house included a studio with large windows facing the sea. The idea behind the design of the house was to eliminate the line between the outdoors and the indoors. The couple created many artistic works at Brucebo and many of them can still be seen there, since the house has been converted into an art museum. The house and the museum are maintained and owned by the Brucebo Foundation.

The estate is 35 ha (0.35 km²). In addition to the main house there are several buildings, most of which were constructed during 1900–06, when the extension to the main house was built. There is a pavilion, a forest studio, a beach studio, the Caretaker's House, a stable with an additional shed and an ice cellar made of limestone. The buildings are designed in the same style as the main house, except for the Caretaker's House, which is inspired by one of the houses at Standgatan in Visby, the Burmeister 4.

In her will, Benedicks-Bruce, left Brucebo to a scholarship fund that would enable young Canadian and Swedish artists to come and stay at Brucebo. However, this program did not start until after a major renovation of the house a few years after her death. The estate served as a boardinghouse for artists for a while up until 1970, when it was designated a nature reserve. The Gotland Municipality owned Brucebo between 1971 and 1973.

In 1973, Brucebo was sold to Swedish TV-producer and director Torbjörn Axelman (born 1932) who started to renovate the main house and the estate. When Axelman's company went bankrupt in 1995, the Brucebo Foundation bought back the estate and Axelman stayed on as a tenant in the old part of the main house. With the foundation as owner, renovations were done at the house and plans to convert it to a museum were set in motion.