Nørholm, also called Nørholmen, is a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

and agricultural property on in the municipality of

Grimstad Grimstad () is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Some of the villages in Grimstad include Eide, Espenes, Fevik, ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The estate best known because one of its owners was

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning author

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...

History

Nørholm was one of the more notable and historic farms of the traditional district

. The manor historically belonged to noble families often of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

origin. The property was bought by

in 1918, and since then has been owned by members of the Hamsun family. The financial award associated with the Nobel Prize made it possible for Knut Hamsun to expand the property significantly, and to live a life as farmer, much like the protagonist of his novel ''

Growth of the Soil ''Growth of the Soil'' (Norwegian ''Markens Grøde'') is a novel by Knut Hamsun which won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. It follows the story of a man who settles and lives in rural Norway. First published in 1917, it has since been tra ...

'' which had earned him the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

. The current main building is from 1830, but was expanded by Hamsun in a neoclassical style. He also built several roads on the property. Nørholm conservation was established in 1989 through the will of Ellinor (1915-1987), the daughter of Knut Hamsun and

Marie Hamsun Marie Hamsun (born Marie Andersen) (19 November 1881 – 4 August 1969) was a Norwegian actress and writer. Biography Marie Andersen was born in Elverum, Hedmark, Norway. She was the eldest child in an affluent family. In 1897 the family moved t ...

. The Nørholm Foundation (''Stiftelsen Nørholm'') was created in 1995 by Victoria Hamsun, the daughter of

Arild Hamsun Arild () is a locality situated in Höganäs Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 522 inhabitants in 2010. It is located in the bay of Skälderviken in north-western Scania, approximately 30 km north of Helsingborg in Sweden. Arild belon ...

(1914-1988) who was Knut and Marie's youngest son. The property is managed by Victoria Hamsun in cooperation with the Nørholm Foundation. The Sørvika cottage was separated from the property and owned by Knut's son, Tore. That property was sold in 2011 and is no longer owned by the family or the foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noerholm Houses completed in the 19th century Buildings and structures in Agder Grimstad Historic farms in Norway Farms in Agder Neoclassical architecture in Norway Houses in Norway Manor houses in Norway Knut Hamsun