In the 19th century, Torpgärdan consisted of so-called “inägomark”, i.e. fields and meadows that were enclosed with a fence to keep grazing animals away. Instead, grazing took place in the open fields, where the villagers could also hunt and collect firewood. Torpgärdan developed from an agricultural area into a residential town with adjacent industrial areas. Development accelerated in the late 1960s, and the dominant building style was the Swedish catalog house with panel, brick, or Mexican style. (Some of the houses were given a distinctly American character with pitched roofs and integrated garages). The plots were designed to be easy to maintain with a few shrubs or trees and lawns for children’s play. The design assumed that someone, by implication the woman, was at home during the day looking after the children, giving rise to the term ‘housewives’ for the living environment. An important factor in the attractiveness of the area was Svartbyträsket, which until the 1980s was a popular swimming and fishing lake. Today the swamp is mainly used for canoeing, skiing and snowmobiling, but for some years now extensive work has been going on to restore the balance of the water with the aim of recreating a living swimming and fishing lake.