University of BergenPublished: 11.06.2015 | Author: Per Jahn Lavik
When the merchant Henrich Henrichsen Weinwich bought the property at Store Milde in 1723, he probably rebuilt the entire, or parts of the main house standing today. Weinwich was wealthy, and the large building of 10 x 32 metres has been a splendid house, which indicated the standard within the Bergen merchant nobility.
The interior that dates from the period of Weinwich is mainly in the eastern living room with French baroque wallpapers and ceiling decorations from the same period. The last one of the private owners Jørgen Coldevin, sold the property to Fana Municipality at the beginning of the 1900s. Today the building belongs to Fana Folk High School. The stonewalls surrounding the protected property and the garden arrangement are themselves magnificent. The Milde crocus, that flowers in the month of May, is well known. It covers large parts of the scheme. The fact that the garden comprises the best known renaissance garden so far known in Norway, is less well known. By counting growth rings on the evergreen shrub, boxwood, the terrace installation has been dated to around 1670, or just before the baronial garden at Rosendal was established. The Arborium, which was established in the grounds of Store Milde, dates from 1971 as a separate foundation in cooperation with the University of Bergen.
