The Danish Seaside Home of Furniture Architect Poul Kjærholm
Editor Dami Yoo | Photographer Soonae Park
About 30 minutes north of Copenhagen, a house stands on the Rungsted coast facing the Øresund Strait. This is Villa Kjærholm, created together by furniture designer Poul Kjærholm and his wife, architect Hanne Kjærholm. Today, Poul Kjærholm’s son, Thomas Kjærholm, lives among its traces. A dealer who curates and introduces fine furniture, he also carries on his father’s design legacy with Fritz Hansen. He says that preserving this house, which remains valuable across the decades and still embodies the Kjærholms’ philosophy, is also an important part of his role.
The full interview is featured in Magazine C Issue 7 ‘PK22’.
Known as Villa Kjærholm, this house holds your family’s story. When did your life here begin, and what does the house mean to your family?
The house was completed in 1962, the year I was born. It’s been with me since the very beginning of my life. As is well known, my mother designed the architecture and my father made the furniture. Their ideas about space, light, and “how to live with design” are present throughout the house. Life in this seaside home has always been closely connected to nature. I still have vivid childhood memories of the clear summer air and the colors of the sky and sea shifting from moment to moment. The house changed its expression with the seasons and the time of day, and it stayed lively through those changes. It felt like a “living house.” Sometimes I picture my father sitting at his worktable, absorbed in his drawings. That spot still brings him back to me more vividly than anything else. There were always metal parts or mechanical structures around him, and they often inspired him. The air was still but charged with intense focus, and that quiet tension seems to linger in the house even now.
We’d also like to hear about the circumstances when the house was built and how your parents completed it together.
At the time, they were both teaching at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. My mother was a professor of architecture and my father a professor of furniture design, and they shared an ongoing creative dialogue. They worked by constantly exchanging ideas. My father created several of his most iconic pieces during that period, and quite a lot of that work took place while the house was being built. Architecture and furniture naturally came together into a single result. My mother focused on space, light, and proportion, while my father emphasized form, materials, and detail. That’s why I see the house as the result of their two perspectives naturally merging into one.
What philosophy or values did they share when designing the house?
My mother believed a house should blend naturally with its surroundings. She wanted a space that was open to nature, calm, and gently filled with light. So she carefully adjusted the building’s proportions to let the interior and exterior flow into each other. A pergola, a post-and-roof structure for climbing plants, once stood on the site and also became a motif for the architecture. The house took on that structure’s repetitive rhythm. Kalmar pine was used for the walls and doors to add warmth, and the combination of brick and large windows created an impression that is both solid and light. My father’s furniture follows the same concept. Its forms are low, simple, and honest about their materials, designed so that light and air can flow freely. By valuing balance in this way, the two of them created a space that is both structural and human.
Their architecture and furniture are often seen as the product of a creative dialogue. What role do you think Poul Kjærholm’s furniture plays in this space?
Their furniture and architecture were born together from the start. Neither could have existed without the other. My father designed most of the furniture for this house himself. The PK9 chair, the PK54 table, and the PK33 stool are key examples, and they’re still produced by Fritz Hansen today. The pieces were made to sit naturally within my mother’s spaces. Their low, refined forms leave room for light and movement. The dining area in particular shows their relationship best. The PK54 table and PK9 chairs directly reflect the architectural proportions and clarity of the house.
Where in the house do you usually spend the most time?
I spend most of my time beside the PK54. From there, I can take in the whole house at a glance, and a picturesque view unfolds beyond the windows. It’s where I can fully feel the proportions, light, and quiet atmosphere of the space my parents created together. Sitting here, I naturally notice how the light changes over the day and how the weather alters the mood of the room. It’s also a place where time seems to pause, and I find myself watching the years go by.
How do you use the PK22 chair?
The PK22 is literally a “resting chair,” an easy chair. It’s light, simple, and comfortable. One on its own is enough, but two facing each other across a low table also work well. Its use depends on how you arrange the space. My father didn’t want the chair to dominate a room, so he designed the seat low, making the surroundings feel larger and more open when you sit down. It suits quiet moments. Whether you’re reading, talking, or simply sitting and taking in the atmosphere of the house, it’s the perfect spot.
Works by many designers, such as lighting by Ingo Maurer, chairs by Charles & Ray Eames, and a lamp by Poul Henningsen, coexist harmoniously with the Kjærholm furniture.
My parents were always open to good design. They never felt the house should be filled only with my father’s work. The bookshelves in the living room, for example, were designed by Mogens Koch, and my parents chose them together. What mattered to them was always the same: honesty of materials, clarity of form, and the power to exist quietly within a space. I added the Ingo Maurer lighting myself later. I think the way it handles light and reflection suits the atmosphere of the house.
How does living by the sea shape your life, and what does a typical day here look like?
The sea is a key part of the landscape that defines the atmosphere of this house. My mother wanted the architecture to blend naturally into its surroundings. The large windows open toward the sea, letting sunlight and air flow straight into the house. You can watch the clouds drift by, and the sunlight and shadows inside shift from moment to moment as the weather and time change. The connection to nature is the essence of this house. Perhaps that’s why life here moves at a very slow rhythm. In the morning, I sit at the dining table with coffee and watch the light pour in. I also go swimming or use a telescope to watch ships coming into the distant harbor. I can see the weather change over the sea, too. Watching these scenes makes me freshly aware of time passing. In short, this house makes you pay attention to time. Rather than pushing you to do something, it simply lets you feel the changes around you.
Which part of your parents’ design philosophy in this house still resonates with you most deeply?
The way they wove architecture and furniture into a single concept. Space, materials, and light are in perfect harmony. That dialogue is alive throughout the house. My mother’s architecture brought ease and openness, and my father’s furniture added focus and precision. That balance is their legacy. They stripped away the unnecessary and left a beauty that can endure. The house is now a listed building, so major changes aren’t possible. I actually think that’s right. It remains modern and still very much alive.
You run a furniture shop not far from the house that includes Kjærholm designs. Did your family influence your decision to enter the furniture business?
I originally trained in furniture making, and I always wanted to run a great shop that carried only good products. In my late 20s, I started taking furniture seriously and opened a shop, and around 1992 I became a Fritz Hansen dealer. An office run by a friend asked me to find them a PK55 table, but at the time I was only selling other companies’ products. That prompted me to contact Fritz Hansen directly and ask, “If I open a shop, can I sell your products?” They said yes, and I became a dealer right away. I still run that shop today. About 10 years before my mother passed away, my older sister, Krestine, also began joining meetings with Fritz Hansen and took part in carrying on our father’s legacy. Along the way, we naturally learned the stories and philosophy behind the furniture, as well as how to ask the right questions. Now my children and my sister’s children are also involved in carrying on his legacy, so that one day they can take over our roles.
What values do you want to keep upholding as you carry on Poul Kjærholm’s design legacy?
Authenticity and respect for craftsmanship. My father’s work was never about designing for trends. It was about precision, honesty of materials, and balance. Those values haven’t changed. What matters is that his designs continue to be made with the same care and dedication as they were back then. It’s also about letting the philosophy behind them come through: clarity, simplicity, and truthfulness.
One final question. Which chair do you love most, or which holds special meaning for you?
It’s hard to pick just one. It changes from day to day. Some days it’s the PK9, and other days it’s the PK11. I think the PK9 has a sculptural strength, while the PK11 has a refined precision. Both perfectly capture the sense of balance my father pursued.
Want to dive deeper?
Issue.07 PK22
Introduced in 1956 by Danish designer Poul Kjærholm, the PK22 is concise and clear. Designed so that material and structure become form itself, every element of the chair—from the steel frame to the leather and screws—works functionally while shaping its sculptural identity. A defining work of Kjærholm's design philosophy, which extended the precision of traditional Danish craftsmanship into a modern formal language, it is a chair that blends naturally into any space while exerting a quiet presence.
