In the heart of Bohuslän’s beautiful archipelago, on Nord-Långö just outside Strömstad, Hilma Svedal (also known as Hilma Wounsch) created something that still fascinates visitors to this day.

Hilma grew up as a fisherman’s daughter on Syd-Hällsö, but carried within her a restless spirit of adventure. At just 26 years old, in 1896, she boarded a ship to America. She first worked as a maid in New York, but was soon drawn further by the gold rush in Klondike. Life as a gold digger in Alaska did not bring her the riches she dreamed of, but it gave her experience, strength, and inspiration. Eventually, she did strike gold in northern Alaska – and returned to Sweden in the 1920s, by then over 60 years old.

On her inherited property on Nord-Långö, she began to realize her vision: to build a paradise in the archipelago. Inspired by villa gardens in California, she combined the cliffs of Bohuslän with seashells, cement, and stone. The result became the Alaska Garden – a unique meeting of nature and human creativity. Terraces, pathways, temples, towers, and imaginative stone structures emerged, which she herself called her “Paradiso.”

Hilma lived here all her life, and in the 1950s she was interviewed – then 88 years old – with plans to buy a blue moped! She became a local legend, and her garden a living memory of her life’s journey.

After her passing, the garden fell into decay for some time, but has since been lovingly restored. Today, the Alaska Garden is one of Bohuslän’s most original attractions – a place where history, craftsmanship, floral beauty, and the idyll of the archipelago come together.