Lysøen is an island in

Bjørnafjorden Bjørnafjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. It runs through the municipalities of Austevoll, Bjørnafjorden, and Tysnes. The large island of Tysnesøya (and many small, surrounding islands such as Reksteren) lie along the south side ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Lysøen is also the site of Villa Lysøen (''Ole Bulls villa på Lysøen''), the home of Norwegian violin-virtuoso and composer

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

until his death in 1880.

Villa Lysøen

The island was originally the site of a farm established around 1670. The island was bought by Ole Bull in 1872 who constructed the villa. Ole Bull drew the plans for the villa himself, under the supervision of renowned Norwegian architect Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe (1833–1901). Ole Bull had a large villa built on the island, inspired by numerous architectural styles, including the

Swiss chalet style Swiss chalet style (, ) is an architectural style of Historicism (art), Late Historicism, originally inspired by rural chalets in Switzerland and the Alps, Alpine (mountainous) regions of Central Europe. The style refers to traditional building d ...

and

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

architecture. It has a tower formed as an

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate (drum) upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. They taper smoothly upwards to a point. It is a typical ...

, common in Russian architecture, and many wooden carvings. Ole Bull transformed his island property into a fairy-tale kingdom by having romantic paths, ponds and

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

s made by planting exotic trees and bushes in the native pine forest. The island has 13 km of walkways and paths. His second wife Sara Chapman Thorp (1850–1911) accompanied him to their summer villa on Lysøen. The highest point on the island, 76 meters above sea level, is the site of a lookout tower which was built in 1903 by Ole Bull's American descendants. In 1974, Bull's granddaughter Sylvea Bull Curtis of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

donated the island to the

Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments () is an organization focused on conservation preservation in Norway. The Society was founded in 1844. The founders were painters, historians, art historians and archeologists, including ...

. Lysøen granted status as a museum in 1984 and has since been open to the public. Guided tours are conducted from early May to August. The villa serves as a museum in the summer and is used for concerts during the annual

Bergen International Festival Bergen International Festival () is an annual international music and cultural festival in Bergen, Norway. In Spring 2022, Lars Petter Hagen took over as festival director. Biography The Bergen International festival is the largest festival ...

.''Museet Lysøen'' (Lysøen i Lysefjorden)

Interior of Villa

File:Lysøen.2.jpg File:Lysøen.5.jpg File:Lysøen.14.jpg File:Lysøen.8.jpg File:Lysøen.11.jpg File:Lysøen.42.jpg File:Lysøen.18.jpg File:Lysøen.19.jpg File:Lysøen.41.jpg File:Lysøen.22.jpg

References

Other sources

*Indahl, Trond (2010) ''Ole Bull’s Villa'' (Bergen: Bodoni forlag) *Brekke, Nils Georg (1993) ''Kulturhistorisk vegbok Hordaland'' (Bergen: Hordaland Fylkeskommune) *Bull, Sara C. (1981) ''Ole Bull: A Memoir'' (New York: Da Capo Press)

External links

Lysøen MuseumThe Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lysoen Historic house museums in Norway Museums in Vestland Culture in Vestland Os, Hordaland Tourist attractions in Vestland Parks in Norway Biographical museums in Norway Music museums in Norway Music organisations based in Norway

Villa Lysøen

Interior of Villa

See also

References

Other sources

External links