Norwegian American Houses in the Midwest
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Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum | Decorah, IA
Hans and Anna Haugan House
Houston County Historical Society | Caledonia, MN
Targe & Liv Nelson Flatten House
Trollskogen Log Cabin | Spring Grove, MN
Trollskogen Cabin - names of original owners unknown
norwegian-american buildings as part of historical society museums
Targe & liv nelson Flatten house
Houston County Historical Society
Caledonia, MN
an Analysis of a typical mid-1800’s norwegian-american home
Also known as the Flatten-Swenson House.
Looking at the main diving wall of the three-room house, a common feature of Norwegian homes. The central placement of the fireplace allows even heating of the house and a small stove can be placed on the other side of the wall in the bedroom to enhance heating.
Targe and Liv Nelson Flatten, ca. 1880. Credit: Houston County Historical Society.
View of the second room off the kitchen/living room. This room was the main bedroom of the house, where either the parents and/or grandparents stayed. Note the extra stove pipe in this room to help carry heat into the room. Also, note the different wall board sizes denoting the thicker wallboard coming from an older tree or kept thicker for more structural load-bearing capacity.
View showing that the house has two entry doors. Symmetry was important to the architectural aesthetic of European houses in the 1800’s, especially in upper-class houses. Because the Flattens emigrated from Norway in search of a better life, it is common for their homes to emulate upper-class ideals. Looking closely at the placement of windows on the long-side of the house, you can see that true symmetry is not met and the door is not centered on the wall. This is due to the particular 3-room floor plan of this building whose larger main room pushes the main dividing wall of the house off-center.
One of the two rooms off the main kitchen/living room. Note that this room contains the staircase to the 2nd story, which was also likely used as a bedroom space. This room is often a pantry room or storage room that did not often contain a stove due to its storage usage.
Detail photo of the pantry/storage room ceiling, structural joists, wall construction and the tongue-in-groove vertical wallboard construction of the main dividing wall. The pantry cabinet signifies the usage of the room as a pantry/storage room. In addition, note the color usage in the home, with painted ceilings and door moldings. These colors were common to Norwegian-families during this time period.
A photo of Targe and Liv’s son, John Andrew, who was born in the Flatten-Swenson house.
Also, notice the ceiling construction detail. Perhaps this extra wood was added to fill gaps that let cold air in.
norwegian-american homes at the vesterheim museum in decorah, ia
Haugan house
Hans and Anna Haugan | House built between 1860-1862
Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum
Decorah, IA
Photos: 2018, Miranda Moen.
According to the Vesterheim, “the house resembles a modest home of tenant farmers (husmenn) in Norway, but incorporates some American building techniques, such as shingles and chinking between the logs.” This house was built between 1860-1862 on a farm six miles southeast of Decorah, IA and the Haugens lived in it until approximately 1880.
“The Haugan House in the Early 1900’s.” Photo of a photograph album in the Haugan house when I visited in August of 2018.
“The House: Was built between 1860 and 1862 by Hans and Anna Hanson. They used the name Haugan among Norwegians and this is the name on their gravestones, which are located in the cemetery of Washington Prairie Lutheran Church. We cannot be certain about the origin of the Haugan name. Haugan may have been a farm name from Norway which was dropped to conform to the practice in this country when legal transactions were involved but continued to be used within the community. This was a common practice within Norwegian immigrant groups. Or the Haugan [name] may have been adopted after their arrival and settlement in order to differentiate them from other Hans Hansons in the area, of whom there were several. Perhaps they chose to name their farmstead here “Haugan,” continuing the Norwegian practice. [Here I assume they mean they named the farmstead “Haugan” because it translates to the farm on the hill (haug). The naming of a farm after geographic features (i.e. a hill) is a common practice].
Information provided by the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum on the history of the Hougan house.
Norwegian American buildings in spring grove, MN
Trollskogen log cabin
[Owner’s names] | House built 1854
Trollskogen Park
Spring Grove, MN
Photos: 2018, Miranda Moen.
The Trollskogen log cabin, now located in Trollskogen Park in Spring Grove, MN was built in 1854 and relocated to Trollskogen Park in September of 1956 with the help of the “Panel Study Club…Spring Grove Commercial Club, and Sons of Norway”, exactly 102 years later. Prior to its relocation it was located on the Lawrence Myhra farm.
This information was provided by the Winona Daily News article entitled “Log Cabin To Be Dedicated: Spring Grove To Preserve 1854 Structure” (dated August 7, 1959).
Photo showing the stairway to the second floor of the Trollskogen Cabin.