Construction and building of wooden houses have a long tradition in Sweden. Traditional timber houses built of logs dovetailed at the corners were generally movable since the construction could be understood as a kind of jig-saw puzzle. The use of steam sawmills during the latter half of the nineteen century changed the conditions for the Swedish forest industry. The modern, rational and mass produced wooden houses of the period of 1960 – 1980 as they appear in contemporary advertisements form a sharp contrast to what is often seen as the icon of Swedish second homes, namely the red old cottage, former part of peasant society. These decades also meant the greatest period of expansion of vacation houses in Sweden. The reasons were an enlarged economic space for consumption, a growing middle-class, more time for leisure and an industry capable of producing the commodity for consumption. The flexibility in the construction of prefabrication made it possible to promise solutions that were said to be individually suited, though the products were mass produced and factory made.