Villa Lorna

“Villa Lorna was built by the well-know painter Hans Dahl”

Villa Lorna ‘Villa Livesey’

An Englishman by the name of James Livesey came to Balestrand in 1904–1905. As an engineer, he had been responsible for a number of railway projects in the USA, India, Peru and Spain, to name but a few. He purchased a plot of land at Sande, where he built his summer residence ‘Villa Livesey’, as it was first known.

The house was built in 1905 by building contractor Anders Korsvoll, who also built the English Church, St. Olav’s Church. It was commissioned by English railway engineer James Livesey (11 May 1831 to 3 Feb. 1925).

He was known around the world, having been responsible for several major railway projects in northern Spain, the USA, South America, Venezuela and Costa Rica. His greatest challenge was the railway across the Andes mountains from Buenos Aires in Argentina to Valparaiso in Chile. Transandino, as it was known, rose to a height of 3,000 metres above sea level.

James and Sarah

James Livesey was married to Sarah Ford (1839–9 June 1903), and they had six children. The family was very prosperous and had numerous properties in England. The summer house in Balestrand was built after he became a widower at the age of 73.

Double wedding in London

Anna Lorna Bellew (1884-1958) was around 20 when she accompanied James to Balestrand. She soon became acquainted with Hans Andreas Dahl (1 Aug. 1881 to 27 March 1919), son of artist Hans Dahl. A magnificent double wedding took place in Philbeach Gardens near Kensington Palace, London on 1 June 1907, where Hans Andreas married Anna Lorna, and his sister Eline married Ludvig Wiese.

VILLA LORNA (Villa Bøktun) 1905

Lorna and Hans Andreas spent the winters in Wimbledon, and every summer at the ‘Livesey Villa’ in Balestrand. Anna Lorna inherited the house after her husband Hans Andreas died at the tender age of 37. The house was from then on known as Villa Lorna.

Its original name was Villa Bøktun, after the two beech trees that still stand on the north side of the house. The trees were presented by the church in 1905 to mark the dissolution of the union with Sweden.

Link between Dahl and Normann

Lorna became a widow at the age of 35. She went on to marry engineer Walter Normann (1874–1951) in Kingston in Surrey, England. He was the son of artist Eilert Adelsteen Normann (the first artist to build a dragon-style villa in Balestrand). Lorna was thus a link between the Dahl and Normann artist families. Walter Normann had a large yacht called ‘Djadjanja’ (which means: Something l’ve got that l always wanted.) The boathouse had to be extended to make room for the large yacht.

Summer house with room service and its own cook

Eric and his wife Constance took over the house in 1950 and used it as a summer house (Walter died in 1951 and Lorna in 1958). The house originally had a kitchen on the ground floor, with separate steps from the road and an entrance for servants and delivery men. A dumb waiter transported food from the kitchen to the pantry on the main floor. The house was equipped with a bell system for room service, central heating and a large English-style marble fireplace.

The family had two girls in service, both of whom were called Synneva. Synneva Stokkebø was the family’s cook for decades and Hermund Haugen was the hired man.