Lagmannsstova – 800 Years, Told with Pen, Brush and Camera

Lagmannsstova – 800 Years, Told with Pen, Brush, and Camera. 

Lagmannsstova is dated to 1220-1230. In 2025, we will celebrate this unique building’s 800th anniversary with an exhibition that presents this majestic building in various ways – with pen, brush, and camera. In addition to works by architect Georg Fredrik Fasting and photos by Elisabeth Emmerhoff, visitors will learn about Lagmannsstova and the building’s history through a book published by the Agatunet Foundation. 

The exhibition opens on May 10, 2025, and will be available until August 31, 2025. 

Georg Fredrik Fasting (1903-1987) grew up in Bergen. He trained as an architect at NTH between 1924-1928. Over time, he started his own architectural practice in Bergen, and later became the county architect for Nord-Trøndelag and Hordaland. He is perhaps best known for designing the iconic red telephone booth that was widespread in Norway. 

During the war years, architect Fasting undertook work that is lesser known. In the summer of 1943, he lived in Isaksstova at Agatunet. In his archive, one can read a letter from 1972: “My involvement with Agatunet stems from a few happy summer months during the occupation years when my family could gather strength to overcome the harsh rationing.” 

In the first summer he stayed at the farm, he made drawings of Isaksstova and gave the survey drawings to the Agatunet Foundation. The foundation then secured funding, including from the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, to have all the buildings in the central farmstead drawn up. 

Fasting documented the buildings in the farmstead as he saw them in the 1940s. He created elevation drawings of more than 30 buildings, as well as cross-sections and floor plans, all highly detailed and full of information about the different structures. Additionally, he drew doors, windows, and other individual elements, even down to the smallest details. The oldest buildings he sketched date back to the 1200s, with the youngest from around 1900. He drew living rooms, barns, storehouses, shelters, cooking houses, outhouses, and manure huts. The drawings show a great variation, including smoke rooms, “lemstova” (shelters), and houses built in different techniques, such as timber frames, “grindverk,” and log construction. He also documented all the various stone paving techniques in the farmyard, along with turf and tile roofs. 

This drawing archive is unique and likely the only one of its kind, offering such thorough documentation of a fully preserved clustered farmstead. In addition to all the black-and-white drawings, Fasting painted a series of watercolors of selected building environments in the farmstead. Survey drawings at a scale of 1:50, along with detailed drawings, were made with ink and pen on cardboard. Around 100 sheets with detailed documentation of the buildings were the result of this work. The drawings are still in use today and have been a valuable tool in the restoration work of the buildings in the farmstead. 

The exhibition will show a selection of drawings and watercolors of Lagmannsstova. Survey drawings at a scale of 1:50, along with detailed drawings, were made with ink and pen on cardboard. 

The Agatunet Foundation is behind a new publication about Lagmannsstova, titled Storstovo På Aga. Lagmannsstova. The book tells the story of Lagmannsstova, the lawman, legal history, lives lived, maintenance, and its current use. The Art Group at Agatunet has been represented in the editorial team for the publication. Editor Kåre Grønsnes says: “The book is written to preserve the history of Storstova, Lagmannsstova, through 800 years, with the hope that the story will spark wonder and interest.” The book will be launched at the opening event in Agatunet on May 10, 2025, and will be available for sale in the museum shop throughout the season. It can also be ordered by direct inquiry to agatunet@hvm.museum.no. 

In connection with the book release, the Art Group hired photographer Elisabeth Emmerhoff to document details from Lagmannsstova. Eight of these images are displayed in the café. They are also available for sale in a limited edition. Elisabeth Emmerhoff (1980) from Sunnhordland is based on a fruit farm in Sørfjorden. She holds an MA from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design and a BA in Photography from UAL in London. She has extensive experience as a photographer, specializing in outdoor portrait photography.