 Buildings at Heddal Village Museum
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Fyrileiv Cottage
The businessman Didrik Kongshem had this cottage built on his property in Oslo in 1930. In 1989, Fyrileiv cottage was moved to Heddal village. The cottage is a mirror copy of the cottage in Øvrebø in Hjartdal, built in 1799. The craftsman Olav Fyrileiv who lived in Heddal made its furnishings. He has done the carpentry, wood carving and rose painting. The cabinet and beds and one wall are decorated with rose painting. Thereafter, Fyrileiv produced several other items which were added to the interior.
This building came from Breistul on the border of Bø i 1972. Farms located to the west of Heddal were used during the spring and autumn months. Pasture land was not good enough for most of these farms, so most of them operated mountain dairy farms. Breistul was operated during the spring and fall seasons, and in the summer the animals took to the mountains. The shed is divided into two floors with a milking shed in the inner half. There was room enough here for milk and finished products such as butter and cheese. The outer room was the living room for the shepherds. A “gvåvtak” was added to the building in 2002 - which are logs split in two diagonally. Håve Cottage This was a guesthouse which resided on one of the largest farms in the municipality. The building was unused for many years and in poor condition when it was moved to the museum. Most of its furnishings were therefore copied after a similar building from a neighboring farm which is housed today at the Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo. Such guesthouses were not uncommon amongst the more well-off farmers, though there are few which have been preserved. The guesthouse dates to 1744.
Ramberg Cottage> This cottage was historically protected in 1923 because of the rose painting by Olav Hansson and moved to Heddal village as its first building in 1950. Dendro chronological tests show that the first floor was built around 1604. The building was added to at the end of 1700 when the farmers had better economy. On the second floor, the guestroom was decorated by Olav Hansson in 1784. He was the most well-known rose painter in the district at the time.
Vengebur from Nord-Sem This building resembles the loft as it has a log core and external gallery The pillars it stands on are situated underneath the building and therefore the building appears at it is ‘floating in the air’. The external gallery were used for various reasons but most likely to dry linen since it was called ‘linbur’. The building was also used to store food. This type of building is distinctive of Eastern Telemark and Tinn. The building dates before 1650 and therefore has been historically protected.
Cotter’s Farm The village also wanted to mark the lives of the cotters which they felt were worth documenting. The cottage is from the cotter’s farm Hola north of Heddal. The last owner, Bergit, lived here until the end of 1950. At this time, both Bergit and the building were in such poor condition that the district’s doctor forced Bergit to the retirement home. Bergit earned her living by weaving for townsfolk and also helped out on the farm when needed. Besides the cottage, the farm also has a storehouse ‘bur’ and a barn.
This mill has not been moved to the museum but stands at its original location in Heddal. The mill was built approx. in the mid-1800’s and has not been used since after WWII, when it was used to illegally mill flour.
The barn is from Reisjå in Tuddal. The building was in poor condition when it was received by the museum. The run-down condition and the fact that one had to travel outside of the village to locate a barn is viewed as a sign that such buildings were rare just after the war. The barn was the most decrepit house on the farm due to its use, wet manure, moisture and gases from all of the animals which were housed here during the winter months. The Reisjå barn has a bed along the wall between the animal stalls which the shepherd used.
Of course the horses had to have their own housing, and in 1951 the stable from South Gvåla was donated to the village. The stable is of the same style which is common to the village. One room for the horses on the first floor with a loft above. The best hay was sorted to the horses. On the east coast, it was very important with strong, well-bred horses which were used in daily operations on the farms. The horse’s status also played a significant role.
This is a common barn style with a room for threshing in the middle and a room for hay and grain on each side. The best hay was placed in one room and the rest was placed in the other room. The sheafs were laid in a circle on top of the hay, side by side. This was to avoid mice eating the grain before threshing.
This building came from Busnes by Tinnsjøen. It is most likely the oldest building at the museum dating to 1500. The building is historically protected. Today, it is a cottage building as it looked in 1700-1800. There was only one floor and there are traces of ancient openings in the walls. There are narrow openings which probably were for light to pass through or perhaps openings for air from the time the room had an open hearth in the middle of the floor. |
