Villa Lofoten - The Fisherman's Cabin

In The Fisherman's Cabin you enter the unique and authentic part of the recently restored building with original elements from the 1850s together with a newly built entrance hall, kitchen, dining room with fireplace, and bathroom. There are two bedrooms with beds on the floor (120 cm) plus two bunk beds under the roof accessible with ladders, a work desk and two original wood burning stoves. Other things to note SETTLEMENTS AT KVALNES When you're staying in the fishing village of Kvalnes, you're living in history. Prehistoric artefacts have been found at Kvalnes that date all the way back to the 7th century BC. In a census from 1567 the names of the first inhabitants, farmers, were registered The land register from 1626 refers to the place as "Church property, vicarage and privately inherited estate". In 1723 it was written that the farm Kvalnes had little birch forest, no pasture, no mills, but was conveniently located for fishing. At that time the farm owned two horses, 15 cows, six young cattle, 24 sheep, and 15 goats. FORMER OWNERS Anton Kristoffersen (1857-1929) was a farmer as well as a carpenter and fisherman at Kvalnes. He had six children with his wife, Kaia Magdalene Leohnardsdatter (1861-1930). Anton founded a fish processing plant in the new harbour, subsequently passed on to his sons Edvard and Sigurd. The company produced salted fish and roe, stockfish, and cod-liver oil. These activities took place in three different buildings on their quay: A fish saltery, a cod-liver oil steamery and a fisherman’s cabin. Villa Lofoten bought these three buildings from the children of Edvard and Sigurd.​ CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT AT KVALNES In 2007, a "Cultural Heritage Plan for Lofoten" was adopted by Nordland County Council. It states that the harbor at Kvalnes is worthy of preservation as a recent cultural monument: “The fishing village environment includes a jetty, quay, fishing industry, foundations for fish drying racks, warehouse, office, facilities for salting fish and cod-liver oil steaming, fisherman's cabins, brewery and shop. The fishing village environment consists of buildings from the early 20th century until the 1970s, and has great interpretive value in relation to recent fishing history.” We have taken this decision seriously. Therefore we can today invite our guests to participate in our project: Protection through new use! EXTERIOR RESTORATION We have preserved the environment and the sizes and exteriors of the buildings in their entirety. The exterior cladding is identical to what it was originally – spruce logged from the forest in the immediate area and sawed on a farm saw. The fisherman's cabin and the cod liver oil facility were originally painted with red cod liver oil paint, but these have been gray for the last fifty years. We therefore chose to leave the spruce cladding untreated on all the buildings. The cladding grays naturally and gets its patina from wind and weather. Prior to 1980 there was a turf roof on the fisherman's cabin. Like the other two buildings, these have had corrugated iron roofs since then. The choice has therefore been to keep zinc plates as roofing on all the roofs. The original windows were not usable in any of the buildings and were replaced with copies. All windows are made of pine heartwood. On the outside, they are coated with linseed oil, and will eventually turn gray like the cladding. Simple paneled doors are used on new doors and windows to maintain the exterior facades and protect against weather and wind.