A House with Its Own Rhythm

Carla Cammilla Hjort has created Ocean House – a creative refuge with a calm rhythm of its own. The historic house, dating from 1888, retains its original floors, ceilings and windows as tactile traces of the life that has unfolded within it. New interventions have been introduced with sensitivity to this history, entering into a nuanced dialogue with the building’s existing materials. Timber, soft forms and saturated colours subtly evoke the warmth of 1960s and 1970s interiors without confining the rooms to a particular era. DETALE lends the walls a tactile depth that brings the architecture, furniture and art together. The result is a vibrant and generous house that invites guests to slow down and stay a little longer.

The Dream of a Quieter Life

Carla works at the intersection of art, design, entrepreneurship and community. As a creative, entrepreneur, facilitator, director, mentor and cultural visionary, she has spent two decades initiating and leading influential platforms and design companies, including SPACE10, ArtRebels, Trailerpark Festival, Social Service Club and, most recently, re:arc institute. A working life propelled by ideas, people and momentum gradually gave rise to a longing for a different rhythm – for more space around thought and a closer connection to the sensory world. She found this refuge on Stevns, in a place she playfully calls Costa Del Stevns.

A Creative Getaway

“When my wife and I bought the house in Rødvig, we dreamed of creating an intimate working refuge – a place where the pace could slow and thoughts could be given more space. The vision grew when we also acquired the neighbouring property, a former theatre and cultural centre dating from 1888. Our ambition is to shape an innovative, user-driven cultural venue encompassing a theatre, pop-up restaurant, kiosk, sound bar, artist residency and creative workshops. A living place where people, ideas and practices can meet. Ocean House – our charming guest house – forms the smaller, more intimate part of this wider whole.” - Carla Cammilla Hjort

A House with a History

Ocean House grew from a longing for calm, but also from a respect for what was already present. Its original floors, ceilings and windows carry time as a visible material quality – traces that have not been restored away but have instead been allowed to remain part of the narrative. In dialogue with Theo Sachs’ furniture and functional objects, a precise tension emerges between the lived-in and the new. Here, history is not treated as scenery, but as an active material with a weight of its own.

Colours That Bring the Rooms Together

Across the walls, DETALE creates depth and a tactile quality that shifts with the daylight. Mushroom forms a warm, quiet foundation. Bloody Mary introduces a sensuous and distinctive accent, while Ivory brings light and air into the rooms. Together, the colours establish a balance between the familiar and the artistic. The surfaces connect timber, textiles and art, giving the house a particular sense of calm that invites guests to look more closely.