Picture this: it's six in the morning, the mist is still sitting on Lake Vänern, and you're standing on a west-facing terrace with a cup of coffee watching the water turn gold. No traffic noise. Just birdsong, the occasional creak of a wooden dock somewhere below, and the kind of quiet that takes a few days to fully sink into. That's what mornings feel like at Mellåsen 5.
This is a proper Swedish countryside retreat — 75 square metres of well-kept living space on an elevated, private plot in Mellåsen, a small community just outside the town of Mariestad on the eastern shore of Lake Vänern. Sweden's largest lake, and Europe's third largest, Vänern isn't just a view — it's the reason people come to this part of Västergötland and keep coming back.
The house itself is two bedrooms, one bathroom, and it's been cared for in a way that shows. The current owners have lived in it, not just visited it. The kitchen has a proper setup — stove, dishwasher, fridge-freezer, good storage — and it opens directly into a dining area where the west-facing window gives you an uninterrupted view of the water. On a clear July evening, when the sun doesn't set until nearly eleven, that window is the best seat in the house. The dining area flows out through the conservatory and onto the main terrace, so summer meals have a way of drifting outside without anyone consciously deciding to move.
That 23-square-metre glazed conservatory is one of the property's most practical features, and it's genuinely useful beyond the summer months. Infrared heating panels extend comfortable use well into October, maybe November if you're not too precious about a sweater. Fully opening sliding doors mean it can be thrown open entirely in warm weather, and two a ... click here to read more
