Askelund

Askelund

The old bailiff’s residence Askelund, some distance west of Balestrand is one of the most beautiful official’s homes in Western Norway. The house has had a varied and colorful history since it was built in 1790. It has been home to the bailiff of Ytre Sogn and to rich and prominent men, and served as a hotel, summer residence, lower secondary school and asylum reception centre.

Master thief Gjest Baardsen is said to have been imprisoned in the cellar at Askelund.

Grand main building

In 1790, bailiff Jakob Hegelund from Denmark purchased the property and called it ‘Askelund’. Until then, the land had been part of the neighboring farm Fjærestad. The bailiff built the beautiful main building with its large hipped roof, a smaller building known as the schoolhouse, the borgstove house, the stabbur storehouse and other buildings on the property. A large summer pasture farm with rich grazing also came with the property. He also built a wharf, so that he could sail or row straight home.

Over a period of ten years, Hegelund changed the property from being a croft belonging to Fjærestad into a large and attractive estate. Askelund became an important place on the Sognefjord.

Johan Nordahl Brun

Hegelund sold Askelund to his descendent, the bailiff Rasmus Carl Holck in 1803. While he was at the helm, Bishop Johan Nordahl Brun, among others, paid a visit. This was occasion for great celebration, and the bailiff invited a dean, two district recorders, two infantry recorders and most government officials in Sogn. Canons were fired at Askelund in honour of the guests.

Renewed agriculture

In 1814, Askelund was sold to bailiff Rasmus Endresen. He was dismissed in 1837 due to financial mismanagement, and his widow inherited the property when he died in 1841. She sold it on to the new bailiff Johan Widing Heiberg Landmark in 1846, who was an important man in the community.

Landmark arranged for the state to take over possession of Askelund. He entered into agreements with the farmers at Fjærestad, Sjøtun and Bale, enabling them to use the large mountain pasture farm in Langedalen. He otherwise worked on planting forest and improving agriculture in the community. The locals called him ‘the old bailiff’ and he was more popular among the farmers than any other bailiff.

Askelund becomes a summer villa

After the office of bailiff was discontinued in 1898, Askelund was sold the following year to lawyer Hans Bonnevie Angell from Bergen. He did not live in Balestrand, and rented the property out. Askelund now became the summer residence of rich people from Bergen. Angell gradually sold off much of the property, leaving just the land around the bailiffs residence itself.

Hotel

The German Frantz Reinboth (born in 1881) bought the main building in 1912 and ran it as a hotel. Emperor Wilhelm II had made Balestrand famous in Germany, but World War I brought an abrupt end to this endeavour.

Well-to-do people from Bergen – with their own gardener

In 1916, Askelund was sold to Emanuel Danielsen and Paul Scholz from Bergen. They were both prominent business men and used Askelund as their summer residence. They hosted wonderful garden parties, and employed gardeners Kristen Lunde, Georg Mehl and Bernhard Linde in that order. The bailiff’s residence was listed in 1923.

Sogn Indremisjon starts a lower secondary school

In the 1930s, the home mission Sogn Indremisjon was looking for a place to start a lower secondary school. They came into contact with Danielsen and bought the property for NOK 44,000 in 1936. Classrooms, dormitories, a woodwork building and a gym hall were built.

The lower secondary school at Askelund had an important position in Balestrand and Sogn for many years. The number of pupils applying to go there started to decline in the 1980s, and the school eventually closed in 1987.

It was used as an asylum reception centre for refugees for two periods in the early 1990s. The property then faced an uncertain future. Sogn Indremisjon therefore decided to sell Askelund in 1997.

New owners

Frode Høyvik and Anita Nyland Høyvik bought the property in 1998. They ran it as a guest house and restaurant until 2011. They hosted a large variety of events, including weddings, birthdays, confirmations, Christmas parties and business dinners.

Today, Askelund is a private residence.