Färjestad was for hundreds of years a large, prosperous estate covering over 1, 000 acres. It was owned by wealthy, influential people and run by a large number of servants. But in the 20th century things changed. The town of Karlstad bought the estate and the mansion was turned into an institution run by the social services. What had once been fields became a part of the town and more and more houses were built. Gradually the agricultural life had to make room for the town’s development until it finally disappeared altogether. Today the part of Karlstad known as Färjestad is mostly famous for its sports, i.e. the trotting-track and the ice-hockey team. The mansion is now owned by the hockey club. Using all kinds of archive material I look at the development of the estate and explain how it went from being a large, prosperous estate to being a part of a town. The people who lived on the estate, both owners and servants, are introduced and some of the owners are described more carefully. There is also a strong emphasis on changes and developments on the estate that can be found in society as a whole and parallels are drawn.