The history of Sturehof manor date from the Middle Ages. The small village was owned by count and stateman Svante Sture, who was murdered by King Erik XIV. His son Mauritz Sture named the manor as Sturehof. In the next to centuries Sturehov was owned by several powerful noble families like Oxenstiernas and Wrangels.
Johan Liljencrantz , Gustav III's "Finance minister", acquired the property in 1778 as a summer lodge. The farmhouse was burnt and only the two wings from the 1600s was still standing. He let the architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz draw a new main building. Adelcrantz was at that time a very famous architect who designed also the Gustav III's opera house in Stockholm. The English garden was built in the 1700s to the north of the manor.
The main building was furnished and decorated by contemporary skilled craftsman and decorative painters, among them Louis Masreliez . As co-owner of Marie porcelain factory had Liljencrantz opportunity to gain Marieberg stoves to their new building. Therefore Sturehov has today the largest collection Marieberg stoves in Sweden, a total of 17 pieces. The most magnificent is "Liljecrantz fireplace”, also drawn to a Swedish stamp. Johan Liljencrantz did not stay long at Sturehov. After his first wife died in 1788 he built Norsborgs mansion and lived there with his new wife, Eleonora.
Today the manor is managed by the Real Estate Department of the municipality. There is a café in the south wing.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.