Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Stacked stone walls bring a touch of Sweden to Fallbrook

StenErik Rolfo and his wife, Kay Gallen-Kallela, moved from Sweden to Fallbrook in 2013. While Gallen-Kallela, a horse trainer and riding instructor, brought her love of horses with her in the form of two Swedish warmbloods, Rolfo brought his skills of building with stones.

Also a carpenter, Rolfo has spent much time building 100 yards of stone walls on their property in the Rock Mountain area east of De Luz. He builds cold stacked stone walls which require a very old craftsmanship technique – and no cement.

Travelers can find a lot of stone walls in many parts of Europe, especially in the southern areas of Sweden where Rolfo spent many years learning the craft.

He said he learned his trade working with an old man building walls around churches in Sweden; his grandfather was an artist who painted pictures and also made stone sculptures. With some creative talent of his own, Rolfo helped build cold stacked stone walls around churches, castles, mansions and grand villas by the ocean.

According to Gallen-Kallela, poverty in Sweden was great during the 1800s.

In the southern parts, especially Smaland, which means small land, the ground was barren, filled with stones.

To use whatever small parcel of land the farmer or soldier had, they had to remove the stones from the land. So, they picked up the stones and created single stonewalls. Since tying up their farm animals while they were grazing and moving them from spot to spot was time consuming, the stone walls worked perfectly to keep the animals within the property to safely graze.

Many times, after a long cold winter, when spring came around, the animals were so starved they died before there was enough grass for them to eat. The south part of Sweden saw the most Swedes leave for America to escape poverty. Many of those emigrants, who moved mainly to Minnesota, came from Smaland.

The Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg wrote a famous series of books based on people from Smaland. They are called “The Emigrants,” “Unto a Good Land,” “The Settlers” and “Last Letter Home.” The emigrants settled in Minnesota where, not surprisingly, stonewalls are a common sight.

Rolfo has done his part to keep the Swedish tradition alive. He builds stone walls here in California, though they are a more modern version called double walls. Both sides of the wall have to be equally even and beautiful.

To make it easier to move big rocks, he invented a radio-controlled crane which is used with a tractor. Before, Rolfo said it was difficult to work the heavy stones without help.

He said the length of time it takes to build a wall depends on the quality of the stone, the ground and if the client wants a double wall or a retaining wall, whether it is straight or has a wave and how high they want the wall. He will also custom-make walls using a client’s own design.

Rolfo said he can build 3 yards of wall per day if it is a 3 foot by 3 foot double wall. He also makes stone stairs, pillars and fireplaces. His stonework skills also include dressing stones on house walls and fireplaces. He can also do groundwork with stone as well as tile bathrooms and kitchens.

In Sweden, he built houses and was his own contractor. In his spare time, which is scarce, he builds wooden furniture.

The stones he used for his own wall came free from a neighbor, and he said he encourages everyone to take advantage of their available supplies.

“If you have stones on your property, make a wall,” he said.

For more information, Rolfo can be reached at (760) 695-2617 or [email protected].

 

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