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Nestunet by Nesvatnet.

Nestunet by Nesvatnet.

A WEST NORWAY FARM

The farm Nes lies directly inside Mundheim on a forested headland in the fjord between Mundheimsvika and Bondesundet, a farm with an attractive and well-kept cultural landscape.

The old common farmyard at Nes is no longer as it was. The smoke-house and the “Bualoft” from “Oppistovo” and the storehouse on stilts and the rough kitchen from “Nistovo” were moved after the reforms in 1912 to the new open air museum which was under construction at Norsk Folkemuseum on Bygdøy.

Øvre Nes was partitioned into two holdings in 1688, and they stood in a common yard up to 1912. The buildings from Nes make out the core in the West Norway farmyard at Bygdøy and gives the visitor an unmistakeable impression of West Norway, with smoke-houses and chalk white décor on sooty, black timber. Even if our time is not so enthusiastic about museum-like “cultural imperialism” that moves houses out of their natural cultural landscape, we must admit that many precious parts of the Norwegian cultural heritage has been saved for posterity in this way. We know the old common yard at Nes through Arne Berg’s precise reconstruction and can only wish that this comprehensive yard could still be found in the landscape. There are several old buildings left in the farmyard, which are looked after with great care and respect for their historical value by the present owner. Through farm tourism, Nes will become one of the farms to welcome visitors.

  • Reconstruction of the farmyard at Øvre Nes

Reconstruction of the farmyard at Øvre Nes at the end of the 1880s. Sketch by Arne Berg, 1968. (Norske gardstun. Oslo.).

  • Sketch of a boat on the smoke house wall

Sketch of a boat on the smoke house wall - a popular motif (Svein Nord).

  • Starling
  • Kåre Nes checks an owl nesting box.

Home for birds

The birds love Nestunet. There are more pairs of barn swallows nesting in the barn than is usual for a farm of this size. The outback is tended in a way that allows old trees to grow even older, and are therefore more suited for tits, flycatchers and woodpeckers. Bird boxes are everywhere, and most of them are in use, also by the starling (picture), which there is a lot of with all of the worms and other tasty titbits in the fields. Artificial fertilizer is of course not used. The most artificial you see, are some baskets that are set up down by the water, where the grass ducks are welcome to build their nests. That is the only thing farmer Bjarne Nes and his family so far have not succeeded with. But maybe next year...?