A Visit to ‘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
It’s a beautiful December morning when Houzz pays a visit to Rungstedlund, the Danish country home of baroness and Out of Africa author Karen Blixen that’s now the Karen Blixen Museum. The sun shines brightly, the ancient beech trees stand tall and proud with their bare winter branches, and the gravel crackles pleasantly with frost.
Stepping into the old country house in Rungsted, on the coast north of Copenhagen, we enter a fresh and authentic space. The interiors of the old living rooms are preserved exactly as Blixen left them upon her death in 1962. Flowers dominate the space, and the morning sun coming through the windows reflects in the glass, mirrors and polished mahogany. It feels as though Blixen were here just a minute ago.
“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.
“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.
Photo from the Karen Blixen Museum
Who Was Karen Blixen?
Blixen is considered one of Denmark’s greatest writers. She is known in Denmark and around the world mostly for Seven Gothic Tales and Out of Africa.
Born in 1885 and raised in Rungstedlund, Blixen (nee 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. Her financial situation eventually forced her to sell it, and in 1931, she moved back to live with her mother at Rungstedlund, where she remained for the rest of her life. This is where Blixen wrote many of her famous books, including Out of Africa, based on her 17 years in Kenya, and Babette’s Feast, which were both subsequently made into Oscar-winning movies.
Who Was Karen Blixen?
Blixen is considered one of Denmark’s greatest writers. She is known in Denmark and around the world mostly for Seven Gothic Tales and Out of Africa.
Born in 1885 and raised in Rungstedlund, Blixen (nee 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. Her financial situation eventually forced her to sell it, and in 1931, she moved back to live with her mother at Rungstedlund, where she remained for the rest of her life. This is where Blixen wrote many of her famous books, including Out of Africa, based on her 17 years in Kenya, and Babette’s Feast, which were both subsequently made into Oscar-winning movies.
The mahogany dining table was made in England, while the chairs are Danish. The wood-burning stoves in the living rooms were collected from various Danish manor houses.
Return to Her Childhood Home
Blixen’s father, officer and writer Wilhelm Dinesen, bought Rungstedlund in late 1879. The manor had previously served as an inn and a farm. Blixen was only 9 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 darker and heavier 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 from 1880 to 1900, akin to Victorian style], but Blixen made it more modern, lighter and brighter,” Tiedemann Dal says.
Return to Her Childhood Home
Blixen’s father, officer and writer Wilhelm Dinesen, bought Rungstedlund in late 1879. The manor had previously served as an inn and a farm. Blixen was only 9 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 darker and heavier 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 from 1880 to 1900, akin to Victorian style], but Blixen made it more modern, lighter and brighter,” Tiedemann Dal says.
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,” Tiedemann Dal says. “She made broad use of colors 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 living rooms and always sought to be a good hostess. However, she rarely had more than eight dinner guests 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 living rooms and always sought to be a good hostess. However, she rarely had more than eight dinner guests at a time since, thirsty for knowledge and keen on conversation, she wanted to be able to follow every discussion around the table.
Although 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,” Tiedemann Dal says. “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,” Tiedemann Dal says. “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. It features long curtains, a pastel-green color 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 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.
The white grandfather clock in the corner behind the Christmas tree was originally on the farm in Africa.
“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,” Tiedemann Dal says.
The building could be extremely cold in the winter before central heating was installed in 1959, so the windows also had thick wool drapes to keep in the heat.
“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,” Tiedemann Dal says.
The building could be extremely cold in the winter before central heating was installed in 1959, so the windows also had thick wool drapes to keep in the heat.
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 sat here with her guests, and it is here that she recorded her 1950s radio addresses during which, among other things, she read and spoke 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. Each listener was to donate exactly 1 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 One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, telling tales to survive,” Tiedemann Dal says.
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,” Tiedemann Dal says.
She sat here with her guests, and it is here that she recorded her 1950s radio addresses during which, among other things, she read and spoke 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. Each listener was to donate exactly 1 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 One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, telling tales to survive,” Tiedemann Dal says.
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,” Tiedemann Dal says.
It is impossible to talk about Blixen’s home and decor without emphasizing the importance of flowers. Blixen once said, “I think flowers are one of the miracles of existence.”
“She thought a lot about colors when arranging flowers. She didn’t think much about the shape or form, but about the colors 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 colors when arranging flowers. She didn’t think much about the shape or form, but about the colors 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.
Olsen, pictured, designs 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 — as they do here on the light-filled porch, which extends from the large living room — but they also contribute their fragrance. Overall, incorporating numerous bouquets was 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,” Olsen says. 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,” Olsen says. 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 large living room. It is decorated with candles at Christmas and bouquets the rest of the year, just as 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 the “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 workspace.
The painted cane chair 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 cane chair in the foreground came from Blixen’s farm in Africa, while the old Empire bookcase on the end wall belonged to her grandfather.
Visit to the U.S.
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 traveled to the U.S., 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,” Tiedemann Dal says. Blixen had suffered from syphilis since her youth and was afflicted with severe pain and digestive issues partially as a result of the treatment.
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 traveled to the U.S., 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,” Tiedemann Dal says. 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 whom she would like to meet while in the U.S., Blixen asked for Marilyn Monroe, pictured at left with Blixen. “Very few people would expect it, but Blixen had a sense of self-promotion, and she knew that a photo with Marilyn Monroe would end up on all the magazine covers, and it did,” Tiedemann Dal says. “Moreover, they were both very interested in identity, and they became good friends and agreed to meet again someday.” Unfortunately, it never happened: As fate would have it, they would die three years later, within a month of each other.
Asked whom she would like to meet while in the U.S., Blixen asked for Marilyn Monroe, pictured at left with Blixen. “Very few people would expect it, but Blixen had a sense of self-promotion, and she knew that a photo with Marilyn Monroe would end up on all the magazine covers, and it did,” Tiedemann Dal says. “Moreover, they were both very interested in identity, and they became good friends and agreed to meet again someday.” Unfortunately, it never happened: As fate would have it, they would die three years later, within a month of each other.
The trip to the U.S. lasted a marvelous 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,” Tiedemann Dal says. “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,” Tiedemann Dal says. “Then she came home and sat here being the baroness at Rungstedlund again, sitting alone and thinking life was not so interesting.”
A Rose a Day
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 last only 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.
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 last only 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, furnished with a blend of styles from Denmark and Africa, has a black-and-white color palette and imitation Masai weapons as wall decor. The painting, depicting Ludvig 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-gray “to somehow bring the ocean in,” Tiedemann Dal says.
The Ewald room, furnished with a blend of styles from Denmark and Africa, has a black-and-white color palette and imitation Masai weapons as wall decor. The painting, depicting Ludvig 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-gray “to somehow bring the ocean in,” Tiedemann Dal says.
Blixen’s Design Legacy
Although the first floor at Rungstedlund appears just as Blixen left it, her spirit lives on in a more contemporary style on the second floor.
Although 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, 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, 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.
This year, artist Zarah Voigt, pictured, has joined Kortzau. She has created Christmas ornaments that reference Blixen’s love of silver and paper Christmas decor and that pick up on her sense for the remarkable and her fascination with mirror magic.
“I designed the stars using paper,” Voigt 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.”
Voigt doesn’t hide her love for Blixen, or the reverence with which she holds the task of creating ornaments in the famous author’s name. She emphasizes the importance of preserving the ambiance that Blixen would have created.
“I designed the stars using paper,” Voigt 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.”
Voigt doesn’t hide her love for Blixen, or the reverence with which she holds the task of creating ornaments in the famous author’s name. She emphasizes the importance of preserving the ambiance that Blixen would have created.
Rosendahl underscores the connection to the author in other ways as well. The company donates a portion of the proceeds from its Karen Blixen’s Christmas ornaments to Rungstedlund to promote knowledge about Blixen’s cultural heritage.
“It is a great honor to design something that is associated with Karen Blixen,” Voigt says. “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,” Voigt says.
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 Monroe.
“It is a great honor to design something that is associated with Karen Blixen,” Voigt says. “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,” Voigt says.
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 Monroe.
Blixen was born and died at Rungstedlund, and lived there her whole life except for the 17 years she spent in Kenya. Nevertheless, Africa and the African farm were central to both her life and her writing. Both individually and together, these two places 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.’”
Plan of the first floor from the Karen Blixen Museum
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House 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
Location: Rungsted, Denmark
Rooms: Four living rooms preserved in their original state; several other rooms used as gallery spaces; a cafe; and a museum shop
Year built: Mid-1600s, with renovations over the years
Plan your visit: From October to April, Rungstedlund (aka the Karen Blixen Museum) is open 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Adult entry costs about $12 (75 Danish kroner) until Dec. 31 and about $16 (100 Danish kroner) thereafter; children under 14 enter free.