Konstnärshemmet Brucebo

On a quiet stretch of Gotland's northern coast, Brucebo is the summer home of two artists who found each other and the island at the same time. Canadian Impressionist painter William Blair Bruce first came to Gotland in the 1880s and was immediately captivated by its particular light — pale, oceanic, unlike anywhere in Europe. He built Brucebo with his Swedish wife Carolina Benedicks-Bruce, a sculptor, and together they shaped it into a place that was both home and studio.

The house is modest and beautiful, with white-washed walls and a garden that opens toward the sea. Inside, it's preserved much as it was during their lifetimes — paintings and sculptures in close proximity, personal effects that hint at the life they made here. Carolina was the more prolific of the two in terms of sheer output, and her work fills the rooms.

Gotland draws artists to this day, partly because of places like Brucebo. The island has a quality that's hard to name — the light, the limestone, the sense of being somewhere slightly outside ordinary time.