Grönsö Manor

Grönsö Manor (older and alternative spelling Grönsöö) is a manor on the island Grönsö in Enköping Municipality, Sweden.

History and architecture
At the place of the current estate there was at least since the Middle Ages a small village; during the 16th century it consisted of five farms. Opposite Grönsö and visible from the manor park lies Utö hus, a medieval manor. One of the farms were given as a gift to Johan Skytte by Prince (later King) Gustavus Adolphus. Skytte was the tutor of the prince and would later become, among other things, chancellor of Uppsala University and member of the Privy Council of Sweden. In the years 1608-9 he traded to himself the rest of the village and founded the present manorial estate. A note from 1611 mentions that the building of the manor house had at that time just commenced.

The first manor house was a rather elaborate building with corner towers and a central roof spire. It has subsequently been rebuilt and reshaped, but structurally retains essentially its original layout.

The estate passed on to his son Bengt Skytte and later to Bengt Skytte's daughter Maria Skytte. It stayed in the family during the entire 17th century but was then reduced to the Crown. During the 18th century, it had several different owners. During the ownership of the Falkenberg family, the manor was repaired and reconstructed and largely gained its present rather simple look. During the second half of the same century Grönsö was owned by the medical doctor David von Schultzenheim, who reconstructed several of the interiors in a simple form of Neoclassical style, sometimes referred to as "Gustavian" after Gustav III of Sweden. During the ownership of von Schultzenheim, the park was also expanded and the still visible "Chinese pavilion" built. It's style is reminiscent of that of William Chambers and is decorated inside with shells and rocks from East Asia.

In 1820, the ownership of the manor passed to Hovmarskalk Reinhold Fredrik von Ehrenheim. It has since stayed in the von Ehrenheim family who still live there today.

Apple production
An apple orchard was established at the estate in 1623 by Johan Ludvigsson, former royal gardener to King Charles IX of Sweden. During replanting works in the 1890s, dropped coins dating from 1634 were found stuck among the roots of a tree. The orchard still produces apples today, making it Sweden's oldest commercial orchard. Apples and apple juice is produced at the estate. The cultivars used for the juice and hence grown in the orchard are among others Åkerö, Ingrid Marie and Gravenstein.