Holmeegenes

Kielland had studied agriculture in Denmark, and the tenant housing in combination with the farmhouse clearly demonstrates how Holmeegenes is inspired by the architectural style typical of Northern Germany. As a result of the financial crisis in the 1800s, Kielland went bankrupt and the estate subsequently had several owners. In 1893 the plant nursery at Holmeegenes was established, and in 1897 Bernt Pedersen became the owner. His son Birger ran the plant nursery from 1915. Birger married the nurse Sigrid Linjordet and they had three daughters – Gunhild (1915), Karen (1919) and Borgny (1921). The Pedersen family ran the Holmeegenes nursery until 1951, and parts of the estate were rented out to other horticultural businesses until 1991. Gunhild lived at Holmegenes her entire life. She had the house listed as a heritage building in 2005, and passed away in 2006, at the age of 91.

In the summer of 2020, Holmeegenes was made available to the public as a museum. Visitors are invited into the home of Sigrid and Birger, who started a family here in 1915. The Art Noveau main doors were purchased when the family moved in, along with the beautiful furniture in "the blue lounge", also Art Noveau. The furniture in "the green lounge" is in the Neo-Renaissance style of the late 1800s. The children's playroom has a rich collection of toys from the early 1900s, and in the laundry room, you can still see the family's soaps and detergents on the shelves. Gunhild's living room is furnished as it was when she lived here in 2006.

More than 4,000 artefacts are displayed at Holmeegenes, and the collection tells the story of an active family. Birger and Sigrid were keen amateur photographers and captured the daily lives of Gunhild, Karen and Borgny through the lens of a Kodak camera. Many pictures from the family's photo collection are displayed in the farmhouse.