Hålla hus

What started out as a three-year project just over 20 years ago has become a hub for information about building maintenance, housekeeping and community development in the county. In 2023, Hålla hus re-opens in new premises, with updated texts and with more focus on accessibility and sustainability. Note! All texts are availible in english via QR-codes in the exhibition.

Hålla hus is an exhibition and information center aimed at anyone who owns a property. Regardless of the age of the property and the visitor's previous experience with building maintenance and ecological construction, Hålla hus is a place you visit to get to know your own house a little better.

Here, knowledge from older building traditions meets house building, maintenance and the thoughts of sustainability of today. All parts of the house are shown – from the foundation to the roof, and of course the surface layers. A palette shows wallpapers and moldings from different time periods and a timeline divides the exhibition into eight eras. Around each era, you can take part in what was typical of that particular time – character traits, building ideals, materials, color, style history and garden.

Hålla hus also informs about which laws apply, how the building should fit into the community planning and what to think about if you have a "K-marked" house. Building maintenance is primarily about taking care of what you have and carefully renovating, not replacing everything to make it period-typical. It is about saving resources and thinking more sustainably in the choice of materials and methods.

The texts in Hålla hus are designed to be concise and easily accessible with the possibility of in-depth study via the website www.hallahus.se (only in swedish). The website is a collaboration between the Skellefteå Museum, the Västerbotten Museum, the Forest and Sami Museum in Lycksele and the County Administrative Board in Västerbotten.

Hålla hus can be visited on the second floor of the museum building and is a permanent part of Skellefteå museum. All texts in the physical exhibition can be read in english via QR-codes.