The History of the Seahouse

The Sea House is in the town of Brantevik which has a long history as sea port. It’s hey-dey was around 1900. The town of Brantevik has a very nice sailing museum of which I am a proud member. In the museum, there is history on every house in Brantevik. It turns out that our house was built in 1909 by a sea captain who was a bit stingy. He sailed a 90’ schooner called Emma of which there is a pretty painting hanging in the town museum. The guy who lived on the property before Cap’n Stingy was a fisherman who died at sea. Cap’n Stingy’s son also died in the norther harbor not too far from the house so I am guessing that the reason we got the house at such a good price is because it’s probably haunted.

From the town history
An old dilapidated house was here once. It was called Jyns Hus and Jöns Hannson lived here. He was a fisherman, but died in 1885 when his boat capsized outside Simrislund. The house was demolished and Nils Martin Håkansson built a new one. He skippered a square sail schooner Emma, named after the first wife, twenty-five years, from 1908 to 1933. His son Nils drowned in the northern harbor in 1928.

A quote from one of his crew:
“All were frugal. Now we would have to say stingy, but then thrift a virtue. The food he had down there for twenty-eight cents per man per day. Uncle John and I ate supper on board the Emma in Reposaari once. We had sailed in the ship’s boat from Mäntyluoto. I borrowed the best man’s fork. He had to get along with just the knife. Any extra dinnerware detail seems not to have existed. The food was fish, which the chef holed up outboard, and fried potatoes, and tea and crackers.”

The Emma