Love for old log houses

There is something special about old log houses. They stand there and tell a story of a bygone era. The timber walls have accommodated generations of people through different periods of Norwegian history and the walls themselves are several hundred years old.

The people who built these houses had a unique knowledge that few of us think about today. Both in terms of material knowledge (for it was not by chance which trees and material were chosen for the purpose) and logging techniques to get the house as tight as possible. It took both man and his horse to get the timber. Mostly axes and saws were used for the whole project and it was hard work. For those who haven't tried it, I would recommend trying to chop a medium tree with an axe. You'll quickly realise that these guys were not to be joked about when it came to physical ability.

What is amazing about these log houses is that they are still standing here 200 years later, maybe a little crooked and bent or a little battered after all sorts of weather and wind. However they are solid and deserve to be taken care of, out of respect for those bodies who have toiled and sacrificed blood, sweat and tears to provide shelter for themselves and their families as well as the associated natural qualities from the wonderful forest that gave up its wood. If you have an eye for it, the house will also convey the history of those who built and lived in it. You can probably see the traces of the axe in the walls, you can see the wear and tear on the door thresholds and stairs, handles worn down by all the hands that have gripped them.

It's inspiring to think about what these people achieved. They started with nothing more than an idea and simple hand tools that helped them managed to create shelter both for themselves and for their animals. I admire every man and woman who built themselves up this way.

It is with great humility and pleasure that I work in projects that have to do with the restoration of old buildings. In 2021, I marked and dismantled a log house that was born in Kirkesdalen, but had been moved to Bardu and was to be moved to Bergen. Here it was to be erected under a glass dome. The relocation of log houses has also been a fairly common tradition in the village. Sometimes it was found that the location you had chosen when building the house was not optimal. Maybe it was too frosty, too little sun, bad ground or that you simply needed the house somewhere else. During the forced relocation, which was part of the centralisation policy in the 50s, there were support schemes for this.

Today it is less common to move with your house. Today, we build our houses in a completely different way that makes moving far more complicated. This changed after World War II. Until then, the principle was that houses should be joined together and taken apart again.The Norwegian State Housing Bank's regulations then provided for cheaper loans from the Norwegian State Housing Bank in return for building a type house. The increasing industrialisation of housebuilding in the 1960s made it cheaper to build houses, and taking the house with you became less relevant. Thus, local building traditions almost came to an end, and we see that this knowledge among the younger generation today is minimal.

I dream of and hope that today, with a lot of focus on climate, we can put more focus on log houses. Studies have shown that with an adapted technique where it is mainly roofs that are insulated, log houses come out quite favourably compared to a passive house. All the technical installations that have to go into the passive house cost to make, and it costs a lot to transport all the materials to the construction site. In addition, the construction industry currently accounts for 24-25% of all waste produced in Norway. By moving houses as they did much earlier, resources that have already been put into the house are utilized. The more that is reused by entire buildings or parts of it, the less waste goes to landfill, and the less materials and energy are consumed.

Building in timber using timber techniques is about passing on Norwegian cultural heritage and history, which in turn is about identity and pride. I am proud to be Dividøl and nowhere does my soul get more peace than in old log houses!