Present-day visitors will see mainly interiors in the late Gustavian and Empire styles from the reigns of Karl XIII and Karl XIV Johan. However, the history of the palace goes back much further. Between 1634 and 1638, Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna, Chancellor of the Exchequer, had a palace built in the Renaissance style and named it for his mother, a member of the prominent Tre Rosor (Three Roses) dynasty. His son, Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna, and the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger transformed the palace in the 1680s into a piece of Franco-Italian Baroque classicism with expensive interiors, including gilded and silvered stucco ceilings.
Royal summer palace
Rosersberg became a royal summer palace in 1762 when it was granted to Duke Karl. In the 1770s the palace was renovated for the first time for the duke and his duchess, Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta, under the architectural direction of Jean Eric Rehn. The interiors we see at Rosersberg today are the work of Gustaf af Silléns, who worked closely with the duke himself to shape the stricter, neoclassical ideal of the early 19th century.
The park too was transformed and became renowned in its day. Perhaps the most remarkable feature was the long canal with gondolas and swans. On an island in the middle of the canal stood a porcelain pavilion with marble columns. Few visible traces of the Baroque park remain today, but the present park surrounding Rosersberg Palace is in the English style that became popular in the late 18th century.