Many Norwegians go to the cottage during the autumn holidays. Preferably a cabin you have for yourself and not share with others, according to Anita Nordeide. She recently completed a PhD on cabin owners’ relationship with the cabin, – They may like to have access to a large family cabin and have their own core family cabin in addition. That’s a pretty big reason why there are so many new cabins in Norway, says Nordeide. Social anthropologist Anita Nordeide has recently completed a PhD on cabin owners, according to her most people want to own their own cabin and not share. Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / news According to Statistics Norway, in January this year there were 450,492 cabins and holiday homes in Norway, compared to 354,060 in 2001 – the number of cabins has increased by over 27 per cent. – Wants to be alone Thorhild Larsen thinks she shares more than enough when she has children and grandchildren visiting the small allotment garden cabin of some twenty-five square meters Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / news In Solvang allotment gardens in Oslo it is soon time for winter closing of the water, so now it’s time to enjoy the autumn sun in the cabin wall. Thorild Larsen has dished up waffles for children and grandchildren on a veranda that could make real estate agents spin: Larsen looks out over both the Bunnefjord and the Oslofjord. Thorild Larsen’s allotment garden cabin is small but has a view of the fjord Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / news – Sharing a cabin? Should we only have every other week or how would it be? No, it’s unthinkable for me, protests the cabin owner with the nice fjord view. – I don’t want to share my flat either. There’s something about wanting to be here alone. But I can share in the gardening. Larsen says the last to the grandchildren. For the record: Colonial garden cottages in the capital are not sold on the open cottage market. You have to live in Oslo and wait several years before you can buy into the mini cabins of between 20 and 30 square metres. No one owns the allotment garden cabins forever and they cannot be resold, but more and more people are leaving the cabins to be inherited. From Thorild Larsen’s living room window you have a view of both the Bunnefjord and the Oslofjord. Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / news – There can be conflicts Marius Askim has a 15-minute drive to his allotment garden cabin and lives in the mini-cabin in Oslo for most of the summer. The blue cottage with white frames looks shabby and the lawn has recently been mowed. – I like to fix and tinker and paint and stuff like that. If you share with someone who isn’t too happy about it, then it becomes a kind of conflict issue, says Marius. But he emphasizes that he and his wife are happy to let a friend borrow the cabin. Marius Askim and Sara Marie Fiva are happy to lend the small allotment garden cabin to a friend, but owning it together with others is not relevant Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / news – If you want to share the cabin 50–50, you must have a plan around it and rules . The nice thing about owning a cabin is that you decide for yourself. According to cabin researcher Anita Nordeide, many cabin owners are like Marius, they are willing to lend or rent out the cabin. But they don’t want a co-owner. – There is something about owning in Norway. Both owning a house and owning a cabin because you want to be independent, show that you are an adult in a way. At least that’s what cabin owners tell me. So it’s not always just about being in nature, but also having your own. Anita Nordeide has researched cabin owners and has written a doctoral thesis on the topic. Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / news – Many cabins are empty for large parts of the year, why don’t the owners want to share the expenses with someone? – Many people have their own things in the cabin, perhaps crockery or special carpets that come from another cabin. They want this for themselves, they don’t want others to come in and use the things or destroy the cabin. People are very happy in their cabin. It is almost sacred. Tiring rituals Those who visit cabins may feel like having their own cabin after experiences as a guest, says Nordeide: – Getting up early in the morning to go skiing, or in the summer: Take a morning bath. Rituals that the mother-in-law or father-in-law think one must do. There are many such activities that people have to do at the cabins. Being completely at peace in your own cabin is highly valued by many cabin owners. – A cabin owner told me that if her mother calls, she just says: “But I’m at the cabin”. Then she avoids the hassle. See “Hyttebok fra helvete”, a performance with Are Kalvø. Strigla versus organic A couple of waffle throws away from Thorild’s fjord view, jazz sounds from a garden where there are so many plants that you can barely see the light blue allotment garden cabin. May Bente Langhelle makes her way past flowering leeks and green leaves to meet us at the fence. Flowers from Langhelle’s organic garden. Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / news – Some may want it very neat and cut the edges with nail scissors, others want it tousled. With me it’s organic, things can grow a little wild. It could become a dilemma to share the cabin with someone who wanted it groomed. May Bente Langhelle likes to let plants grow “a little wild” Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / news – Why not share? – I have a friend with whom I go on holiday and things like that. But it’s still me who decides how I want it. I don’t have to discuss with anyone or hold a cabin meeting, I can just do exactly what I want. That is what is so wonderful, Langhelle thinks. Published 06.10.2024, at 08.21
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Typical Norwegian to want to own a cabin alone – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
