A good farm
In the 17th Century, Kolbeinstveit was among the 10-12 best farms in old Suldal. Towards the end of the 19th Century Kolbeinstveit was the 13th biggest farm in Suldal.
In 1866/67 the farm had 3 acres of fields, 3,3 acres of pastures and nearly 4 acres of meadows. They grew oats, potatoes and hay. The largest amount of fodder, however, came from non-cultivated meadows and other sources. The farm had 4 „stols“, traditional Norwegian mountain summer farms with surrounding graze land. Additionally there was some forest available for use at the farm or for sale as fuel or timber.
The fodder and grazing resources were calculated to be sufficient for 1 horse, 14 cattle and 40 sheep or goats.
Kolbeinstveit was characterised as a „more than commonly well“ run farm (1867). Kolbeinstveit 1851
After the lease agreement with Ola Hallvardson Stuv expired in 1847, Lars O. Kolbenstvedt started an extensive rebuilding of Kolbeinstveit
The farm houses were taken down and used in the making of the farm as it is today In 1851 a new main building, barn and forge were in place. Soon, there were also stables and a „fire-house“ („eldhus“ – a house for preparing food for storage) in place.
In the river there was already a mill house and a new sawmill was put up as well. The new residential house was built as a modern house in Empire style.
On the Kolbeinstveit farm, they were early in moving all the functions of the farm into one main farm building. The other houses have been put in place after the farm became a museum
The „stave barn“
In earlier times, it was customary to build one house for each function on the farm. When the new barn was built at Kolbeinstveit in 1851, it was a combined building, large enough to provide room for all the animals and all the fodder. Most of the farm is built from recycled materials, probably taken from the old farm.
The barn is a „stave barn,“ a kind of barn found along Norway’s southern and western coast. Underneath you find a drawing, showing the construction of such a barn.
Inside the stave structure, we find „lafting“, traditional log building technique, used on the ground floor. The first floor had rooms for goats, sheep, pigs, cows and manure. The rooms meant for animals were built using „lafting“, since the logs provide insulation.
The cows stood in booths facing the wall. The floor was earthen. Behind the animals was a wooden floor. There were stairs going up to the hay-room at the end.
The sheep and the goats walked around freely. (When there were goats on the farm, some of the sheep could be in the manure room.)
In 1875 there were 9 cows, 1 ox, 5 calves, 30 sheep and lamb, 5 goats and one pig on the farm.
A house and a home
The main residential house was probably finished in 1851. It is built in a fashion common in Ryfylke from the first half of the 19th Century until well into the 20th.
The living room was the warmest room in the house. The living room and the kitchen are the arenas for everyday life. The sleeping quarters were in an around the living room.
„Bua“ was a room saved for Special occasions, or when important people were visiting. Here, they kept the clothes in boxes, as well as flour and „flatbrod“ (flat bread). On the Kolbeinstveit farm this room has been reserved for the owners, or those in charge of the farm or museum,
Source: Information pages on site