Houzz Tours
My Houzz: 'Out of Africa' Author's Stunning Danish Manor
We tour Karen Blixen's home and take a peek at her life, style, and Christmas traditions
Houzz at a Glance
Who lived here: Baroness Karen Blixen (1885–1962), author of Seven Gothic Tales, Out of Africa and other works, under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen. The manor is now the Karen Blixen Museum
House name: Rungstedlund
Location: Rungsted, Denmark
Rooms: Four drawing rooms have been preserved in their original state. Several other rooms are currently being used as gallery spaces, and there is also a cafe and museum shop.
Year built: Rungstedlund is about 350 years old, but parts of it have been rebuilt at various points in time.
“This place is full of her spirit. It permeates both the atmosphere and the style of Rungstedlund,” says Anne Sofie Tiedemann Dal, curator of the Karen Blixen Museum.
Who lived here: Baroness Karen Blixen (1885–1962), author of Seven Gothic Tales, Out of Africa and other works, under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen. The manor is now the Karen Blixen Museum
House name: Rungstedlund
Location: Rungsted, Denmark
Rooms: Four drawing rooms have been preserved in their original state. Several other rooms are currently being used as gallery spaces, and there is also a cafe and museum shop.
Year built: Rungstedlund is about 350 years old, but parts of it have been rebuilt at various points in time.
“This place is full of her spirit. It permeates both the atmosphere and the style of Rungstedlund,” says Anne Sofie Tiedemann Dal, curator of the Karen Blixen Museum.
Who was Karen Blixen?
Karen Blixen is considered to be one of Denmark’s greatest writers. She is mostly known in Denmark and around the world for her works Seven Gothic Tales and Out of Africa. Born and raised in Rungstedlund, Blixen (née Dinesen) moved to Kenya in 1914, where she married the Swedish baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke. The couple ran a coffee plantation together until their divorce in 1921, after which Blixen continued to manage the farm on her own for some time.
She was eventually forced to sell it due to its dire financial situation, and moved back home in 1931 to live with her mother at Rungstedlund, where she would remain for the rest of her life. This is where Blixen wrote many of her famous books, including Out of Africa, based on the 17 years she had spent in Kenya, and Babette’s Feast, which were both subsequently made into Oscar-winning movies.
Photo from the Karen Blixen Museum
Karen Blixen is considered to be one of Denmark’s greatest writers. She is mostly known in Denmark and around the world for her works Seven Gothic Tales and Out of Africa. Born and raised in Rungstedlund, Blixen (née Dinesen) moved to Kenya in 1914, where she married the Swedish baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke. The couple ran a coffee plantation together until their divorce in 1921, after which Blixen continued to manage the farm on her own for some time.
She was eventually forced to sell it due to its dire financial situation, and moved back home in 1931 to live with her mother at Rungstedlund, where she would remain for the rest of her life. This is where Blixen wrote many of her famous books, including Out of Africa, based on the 17 years she had spent in Kenya, and Babette’s Feast, which were both subsequently made into Oscar-winning movies.
Photo from the Karen Blixen Museum
It was Blixen’s father, officer and writer Wilhelm Dinesen, who bought Rungstedlund in late 1879. The manor had previously served as an inn and then a farm. Blixen was only nine years old when her father died, but she and her siblings continued to live at Rungstedlund with their mother, Ingeborg.
When Blixen took over the home after her mother’s death in 1939, she replaced its more dark and heavy decor with her own style. “Many of the furniture pieces are heirlooms that Blixen put together her own way after her mother’s death. Previously, the style had been more influenced by klunkestil [a style of decor popular 1880–1900, akin to Victorian style], but Blixen made it more modern, lighter and brighter,” says Tiedemann Dal.
The dining table is mahogany and was made in England, while the chairs are Danish. All the wood-burning stoves in the living rooms were collected from various Danish manor houses.
When Blixen took over the home after her mother’s death in 1939, she replaced its more dark and heavy decor with her own style. “Many of the furniture pieces are heirlooms that Blixen put together her own way after her mother’s death. Previously, the style had been more influenced by klunkestil [a style of decor popular 1880–1900, akin to Victorian style], but Blixen made it more modern, lighter and brighter,” says Tiedemann Dal.
The dining table is mahogany and was made in England, while the chairs are Danish. All the wood-burning stoves in the living rooms were collected from various Danish manor houses.
All in all, Blixen bought very little for the interior, probably in part because she was far from wealthy in the years after her return from Africa: “She painted or redecorated many things herself,” says Tiedemann Dal. “She made broad use of colours and flowers from the garden, creating a style that was very personal and characteristic.”
Blixen put a lot of thought into the decor of her large living rooms, and always sought to be a good hostess. However, she rarely had more than eight guests for dinner at a time since. Thirsty for knowledge and keen on conversation, she wanted to be able to follow every discussion around the table.
Blixen put a lot of thought into the decor of her large living rooms, and always sought to be a good hostess. However, she rarely had more than eight guests for dinner at a time since. Thirsty for knowledge and keen on conversation, she wanted to be able to follow every discussion around the table.
While Blixen is best known internationally for her literature, rather than her design, her stories include several elements of the Rungstedlund interior.
“She thought mirrors were especially beautiful, partly because they made the rooms feel bigger, but also because they allow us to see the world in a different way,” says Tiedemann Dal. “There are many mirrors in her books. For example, in one of the Seven Gothic Tales, ‘The Roads Round Pisa’, a hall of mirrors plays a special role – it twists and distorts proportions and reverses everything.”
“She thought mirrors were especially beautiful, partly because they made the rooms feel bigger, but also because they allow us to see the world in a different way,” says Tiedemann Dal. “There are many mirrors in her books. For example, in one of the Seven Gothic Tales, ‘The Roads Round Pisa’, a hall of mirrors plays a special role – it twists and distorts proportions and reverses everything.”
The dining room leads to Rungstedlund’s largest room, which is also decorated in Blixen’s characteristic style and features long curtains, a pastel-green colour palette and, at Christmas, a fir adorned just how Blixen liked it.
The Christmas tree was always decorated with silver tinsel, silver balls and white paper stars, as has been recounted by Blixen’s nephew and others who knew her well. Although Blixen, to her grief, never had children, she loved to spur the imaginations of her nephews and nieces. There was always a red Christmas toy hanging on the tree – the first child to find it was usually rewarded with a cake.
“She got the typical long curtains from manor houses where the ceilings were a little higher, but she did not have the heart to cut them to size, so instead she created her own romantic style by letting them run onto the floor,” says Tiedemann Dal.
The building could be extremely cold in the winter before central heating was installed in 1959, so the windows had also been hung with thick wool drapes to keep the heat in.
The white grandfather clock in the corner behind the Christmas tree was originally on the farm in Africa.
The building could be extremely cold in the winter before central heating was installed in 1959, so the windows had also been hung with thick wool drapes to keep the heat in.
The white grandfather clock in the corner behind the Christmas tree was originally on the farm in Africa.
Likely also due to the cold Danish winters, the corner in front of the marble fireplace in the large living room was an important focal point for Blixen’s life at Rungstedlund.
She would sit here with her guests, and it is here that she recorded her 1950s radio addresses on which, among other things, she would read and speak about life on her African farm.
In 1958, she encouraged radio listeners to support the newly established Rungstedlund Fund, which was partly founded to ensure that the grove behind the farm would become a bird sanctuary and would be open to the public in the future. Each listener was to donate exactly one Danish krone, no more and no less, so Blixen could count how many supporters she had.
Blixen had the French fireplace screen that is decorated with palm trees (hidden behind the furniture in the photo) in Africa. “We can imagine a scene from Out of Africa, where she is sitting here with her legs crossed, like another Scheherazade from 1,001 Arabian Nights, telling tales to survive,” says Tiedemann Dal.
Blixen’s great love, the English aristocrat and big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton, was sometimes on safari for two to three months at a time, but when he came back to the farm in Kenya, Blixen and her storytelling awaited him: “Then they would light a fire in the fireplace, and the flames would be reflected on the stunning screen in such a way that the figures would seem to come alive, and would inspire her to keep telling her stories,” says Tiedemann Dal.
She would sit here with her guests, and it is here that she recorded her 1950s radio addresses on which, among other things, she would read and speak about life on her African farm.
In 1958, she encouraged radio listeners to support the newly established Rungstedlund Fund, which was partly founded to ensure that the grove behind the farm would become a bird sanctuary and would be open to the public in the future. Each listener was to donate exactly one Danish krone, no more and no less, so Blixen could count how many supporters she had.
Blixen had the French fireplace screen that is decorated with palm trees (hidden behind the furniture in the photo) in Africa. “We can imagine a scene from Out of Africa, where she is sitting here with her legs crossed, like another Scheherazade from 1,001 Arabian Nights, telling tales to survive,” says Tiedemann Dal.
Blixen’s great love, the English aristocrat and big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton, was sometimes on safari for two to three months at a time, but when he came back to the farm in Kenya, Blixen and her storytelling awaited him: “Then they would light a fire in the fireplace, and the flames would be reflected on the stunning screen in such a way that the figures would seem to come alive, and would inspire her to keep telling her stories,” says Tiedemann Dal.
It is impossible to talk about Blixen’s home and decor without emphasising the importance of flowers. Blixen once said, “I think flowers are one of the miracles of existence.”
“She thought a lot about colours when arranging flowers. She didn’t think much about the shape or form, but about the colours and their combinations, and her bouquets were always spiky,” says Helen Olsen, who has been a floral decorator at Rungstedlund for over 20 years. She is responsible for decorating the living rooms with plants in Blixen’s style.
“She thought a lot about colours when arranging flowers. She didn’t think much about the shape or form, but about the colours and their combinations, and her bouquets were always spiky,” says Helen Olsen, who has been a floral decorator at Rungstedlund for over 20 years. She is responsible for decorating the living rooms with plants in Blixen’s style.
Pictured: Floral decorator Helen Olsen
Olsen initially designed the bouquets on paper before arranging them. As Blixen said about the art of arranging bouquets, “It’s like painting an image of flowers.”
Olsen initially designed the bouquets on paper before arranging them. As Blixen said about the art of arranging bouquets, “It’s like painting an image of flowers.”
Not only do the flowers adorn and liven up the space – like here on the light-filled porch, which extends from the large living room – they also contribute their fragrance. Overall, the numerous bouquets were a smart way to liven up the mood in the living rooms during Blixen’s periods of tough financial straits.
“She used every single thing that grew in her garden,” says Olsen. Quite unconventionally, Blixen added vegetables into her bouquets, for example, using red cabbage leaves with roses. She also blended wild and cultivated varieties.
When turning the stems into bouquets, the floral decorator tries to comply with the baroness’ mantra: “With peace in the soul, or with a soul that will find peace along the way, one stalk at a time,” as Olsen tells us.
“She used every single thing that grew in her garden,” says Olsen. Quite unconventionally, Blixen added vegetables into her bouquets, for example, using red cabbage leaves with roses. She also blended wild and cultivated varieties.
When turning the stems into bouquets, the floral decorator tries to comply with the baroness’ mantra: “With peace in the soul, or with a soul that will find peace along the way, one stalk at a time,” as Olsen tells us.
Farah Aden – Blixen’s butler in Kenya – gave Blixen the brass-plated chest in the living room. It is decorated with candles at Christmas and bouquets the rest of the year, just like in Blixen’s time.
The paintings on the wall are of Blixen’s grandmother and grandfather, and the mahogany sofa came from her grandparents’ home.
The paintings on the wall are of Blixen’s grandmother and grandfather, and the mahogany sofa came from her grandparents’ home.
Green dominates at Rungstedlund in more than one sense, and this shows in this green living room. Unlike most of the rooms in the house, this room is sheltered from the cold wind blowing in from the coast. It was used as a guest room and sometimes as Blixen’s work space.
The painted chair with wickerwork in the foreground came from Blixen’s farm in Africa, while the old empire bookcase on the end wall belonged to her grandfather.
The painted chair with wickerwork in the foreground came from Blixen’s farm in Africa, while the old empire bookcase on the end wall belonged to her grandfather.
Blixen’s autobiography and short stories made her famous around the world, especially in the United States, which was the first country to publish Seven Gothic Tales in 1934.
In 1959 she travelled to the United States, where she was cheered by thousands of American fans.
“She was in terrible health and everyone advised her not to go, but she wanted to,” says Tiedemann Dal. Blixen had suffered from syphilis since her youth and was afflicted with severe pain and digestive issues partially as a result of the treatment.
In 1959 she travelled to the United States, where she was cheered by thousands of American fans.
“She was in terrible health and everyone advised her not to go, but she wanted to,” says Tiedemann Dal. Blixen had suffered from syphilis since her youth and was afflicted with severe pain and digestive issues partially as a result of the treatment.
Photo from the Karen Blixen Museum
Asked who she would like to meet while in the States, Blixen asked for Marilyn Monroe. “Very few people would expect it, but Blixen had a sense of self-promotion, and she knew that a photo with Marilyn Monroe would have ended up on all the magazine covers, and it did,” says Tiedemann Dal. “Moreover, they were both very interested in identity, and they became good friends and agreed to meet again some day.” Unfortunately, it never happened: As fate would have it, they would both die three years later, within a month of one another.
Asked who she would like to meet while in the States, Blixen asked for Marilyn Monroe. “Very few people would expect it, but Blixen had a sense of self-promotion, and she knew that a photo with Marilyn Monroe would have ended up on all the magazine covers, and it did,” says Tiedemann Dal. “Moreover, they were both very interested in identity, and they became good friends and agreed to meet again some day.” Unfortunately, it never happened: As fate would have it, they would both die three years later, within a month of one another.
The trip to the US lasted a marvellous three months and was covered by the media everywhere, as though it were a state visit.
“She was loved and admired, they called her ‘darling,’ and there was one party after another,” says Tiedemann Dal. “Then she came home and sat here being the baroness at Rungstedlund again, sitting alone and thinking life was not so interesting.”
“She was loved and admired, they called her ‘darling,’ and there was one party after another,” says Tiedemann Dal. “Then she came home and sat here being the baroness at Rungstedlund again, sitting alone and thinking life was not so interesting.”
Blixen’s good friend, film director Erling Schroeder, reportedly once called her to try to cheer her up with some American-style familiarity: “I love you Karen Blixen, I love you Isak Dinesen, I love you Pierre Andrézel, I love you Tanne,” he told her, referring to her by her nicknames and pseudonyms. Unfortunately, it didn’t help all that much. “Thank you, that’s enough!” Blixen responded, slamming down the phone.
Schroeder then decided to send her a red rose, which would only last 24 hours, every day. So, no matter where she was in the world, every single day for the rest of her life she would receive a red rose to cheer her up.
Schroeder then decided to send her a red rose, which would only last 24 hours, every day. So, no matter where she was in the world, every single day for the rest of her life she would receive a red rose to cheer her up.
When Blixen was at Rungstedlund, the daily rose was placed in the Ewald room, which overlooks the Øresund strait and is named after the poet Johannes Ewald, who is believed to have lived in Rungstedlund in the 1700s.
The Ewald room is furnished with a blend of styles from Denmark and Africa, containing a black-and-white colour palette and imitation Maasai weapons as wall decor. The painting, depicting Ludwig Holberg’s History of the Kingdom of Denmark and an African rhinoceros hornbill, was painted by Blixen herself.
In contrast to the other rooms, the walls of the Ewald room are painted a delicate blue-grey, “to somehow bring the ocean in,” says Tiedemann Dal.
The Ewald room is furnished with a blend of styles from Denmark and Africa, containing a black-and-white colour palette and imitation Maasai weapons as wall decor. The painting, depicting Ludwig Holberg’s History of the Kingdom of Denmark and an African rhinoceros hornbill, was painted by Blixen herself.
In contrast to the other rooms, the walls of the Ewald room are painted a delicate blue-grey, “to somehow bring the ocean in,” says Tiedemann Dal.
While the first floor at Rungstedlund appears just as Blixen left it, her spirit lives on in a more contemporary style on the second floor.
The upstairs sparkles with modern interpretations of Christmas at Rungstedlund.
The design company Rosendahl produces contemporary Christmas decorations in the famous author’s style, under the name Karen Blixen’s Christmas. For a number of years, the designer Ole Kortzau has created Christmas decorations that draw on Blixen’s personality and love of flowers – including silver and gold holly and mistletoe, and golden angels.
The design company Rosendahl produces contemporary Christmas decorations in the famous author’s style, under the name Karen Blixen’s Christmas. For a number of years, the designer Ole Kortzau has created Christmas decorations that draw on Blixen’s personality and love of flowers – including silver and gold holly and mistletoe, and golden angels.
Pictured: Artist Zarah Voigt
This year, the artist Zarah Voigt has joined Kortzau. She has created Christmas ornaments that reference Blixen’s love of silver and paper Christmas decor, and pick up on her sense for the remarkable and her fascination with mirror magic.
“I designed the stars using paper,” the artist says. “I folded the paper three times before cutting tiny holes in it and then folding it into spectacular wonders. When they are made of metal, they get the extra magic of gloss and are therefore wonderfully dynamic, because at the smallest movement they shine like prisms and create fairytale shades.”
Voigt does not hide her love for Blixen, or the reverence with which she holds the task of creating ornaments in the famous author’s name. She emphasises the importance of preserving the ambiance the Blixen would have created.
This year, the artist Zarah Voigt has joined Kortzau. She has created Christmas ornaments that reference Blixen’s love of silver and paper Christmas decor, and pick up on her sense for the remarkable and her fascination with mirror magic.
“I designed the stars using paper,” the artist says. “I folded the paper three times before cutting tiny holes in it and then folding it into spectacular wonders. When they are made of metal, they get the extra magic of gloss and are therefore wonderfully dynamic, because at the smallest movement they shine like prisms and create fairytale shades.”
Voigt does not hide her love for Blixen, or the reverence with which she holds the task of creating ornaments in the famous author’s name. She emphasises the importance of preserving the ambiance the Blixen would have created.
Rosendahl underscore the connection to the author in other ways as well. They donate a portion of the proceeds from every Karen Blixen Christmas ornament sold to Rungstedlund, in order to promote knowledge about Blixen’s cultural heritage.
“It is a great honour to design something that is associated with Karen Blixen,” says Voigt. “I’m a fan! I love her books, and I named my son Isak after her pseudonym, Isak Dinesen. Moreover, just as Blixen always had white paper ornaments on her Christmas tree, such things were the most important Christmas tradition in my childhood too.”
In fact, Voigt and Blixen are connected through design in more ways than that. Voigt’s father, renowned fashion designer Jean Voigt, created dresses for Blixen as a young haute couture designer in the 1960s – including the black dress she wore when she met Marilyn Monroe.
“It is a great honour to design something that is associated with Karen Blixen,” says Voigt. “I’m a fan! I love her books, and I named my son Isak after her pseudonym, Isak Dinesen. Moreover, just as Blixen always had white paper ornaments on her Christmas tree, such things were the most important Christmas tradition in my childhood too.”
In fact, Voigt and Blixen are connected through design in more ways than that. Voigt’s father, renowned fashion designer Jean Voigt, created dresses for Blixen as a young haute couture designer in the 1960s – including the black dress she wore when she met Marilyn Monroe.
Blixen was born and died at Rungstedlund, and lived there her whole life besides the 17 years she spent in Kenya. Nevertheless, Africa and the African farm were central to both her life and writing. Both individually and in concert, these two places have defined Blixen.
Actress Meryl Streep, who played Blixen in the 1985 movie Out of Africa, perhaps said it best in an interview:
“When I visited Rungstedlund, Karen Blixen’s home, the most gripping experience was when I walked into the house on the south-facing side where she stood every evening after she returned from Africa. There she stood, looking toward Kenya and thinking about the country, the people and the farm she had left. She once said, ‘I have a feeling that wherever I may be in the future, I will be wondering whether there is rain at Ngong.’”
Actress Meryl Streep, who played Blixen in the 1985 movie Out of Africa, perhaps said it best in an interview:
“When I visited Rungstedlund, Karen Blixen’s home, the most gripping experience was when I walked into the house on the south-facing side where she stood every evening after she returned from Africa. There she stood, looking toward Kenya and thinking about the country, the people and the farm she had left. She once said, ‘I have a feeling that wherever I may be in the future, I will be wondering whether there is rain at Ngong.’”
It was a beautiful December morning when Houzz payed a visit to Rungstedlund, the country home of baroness and Out of Africa author Karen Blixen. The sun was shining bright, the ancient beech trees standing tall and proud with their bare winter branches and the gravel in the courtyard crackling pleasantly with frost.
Stepping into the warm old country house in Rungsted, on the coast to the north of Copenhagen, Denmark, we enter a fresh and authentic space. The interiors of the old living rooms have been preserved exactly as Blixen left them at her death in 1962. Flowers dominate in the space, and the morning sun that breaks through the windows is reflected in glass, mirrors and polished mahogany. It feels as though Blixen could have been here just a minute ago.