Esviken (formerly Esvigen) is a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

surrounded by an elaborate garden. It is located on a former farm on Leangbukta bay between Vettre and Konglungen in

Asker Asker (), also called Asker proper (''Askerbygda'' or ''gamle Asker'' in Norwegian), is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

History

Industrialist

Halvor Schou Halvor Arntzen Schou (11 May 1823 – 5 February 1879) was a Norwegian industrialist. He was the founder of the Hjula Væveri weaving mill in Oslo. Biography Halvor Schou was born in Christiania (now Oslo, Norway). He was a son of Ch ...

(1823–1879) and his wife Anna Cecilie Crowe (1829–1914) bought Løkenes farm in the late 1860s. They commissioned the villa to be designed by noted architect

Wilhelm von Hanno Andreas Friedrich Wilhelm von Hanno (15 December 1826 – 12 December 1882) was a German-born Norwegian architect, sculptor and painter. He was among the leading architects in Norway during the middle of the 1800s. Biography Wilhelm von Hann ...

(1826–1882). Esviken was completed in 1872 and used by Schou and his heirs as a summer residence. Their daughter Birgitte Halvordine Schou (1847-1923) was married to industrialist

Einar Westye Egeberg Einar Westye Egeberg Sr. (23 July 1851 – 7 June 1940) was a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Conservative Party. Personal life He was born in Kristiania as a son of Peder Cappelen Egeberg (1810–1874) and Hanna Wilhelmine Sche ...

(1851–1940). They inherited the villa and half of the surrounding property. Their daughter Hermine Egeberg (1881–1974) was married from 1901 to Count

Peder Anker Wedel-Jarlsberg Peder Anker, Count of Wedel-Jarlsberg (born 18 August 1875, died 13 October 1954) was a Norwegian courtier, military officer and estate owner. He served as Lord Chamberlain for King Haakon VII of Norway from 1931 to 1945 and was one of the King's ...

(1875-1954). Wedel-Jarlsberg was

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

for King

Haakon VII of Norway Haakon VII (; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was King of Norway from 18 November 1905 until his death in 1957. The future Haakon VII was born in Copenhagen as Prince Carl of Denmark. He was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess ...

from 1931 to 1945 and one of the King's closest confidants for over thirty year. Esviken is located close to

Skaugum Skaugum is an estate, manor house and the official residence of Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The estate is located in Asker, southwest of Oslo, by the foot of the mountain Skaugumsåsen. The estate con ...

which was owned by the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

. The King and Queen visited Esviken many times. Formally, Hermine and Peder Anker Wedel-Jarlsberg took over the property in 1930, but in reality, this happened around thirty years earlier. The Wedel-Jarlsberg family extended the garden significantly. In 1960, the property was inherited by their daughter Hedevig Wedel-Jarlsberg (1913–1996), who married Per Christian Cornelius Paus (1910-1986), his wife's distant cousin and himself a descendant of the Schou family. In 1996, their children Cornelia Paus, Christopher Paus and

Peder Nicolas Paus Peder Nicolas Paus (; born 22 November 1945) is a Norwegian banker and investor in the petroleum industry. He is a co-founder and former chairman of the international oil and gas exploration company Questerre Energy Corporation. Background He ...

inherited the property. The property was sold to

municipality in 1999. The villa and garden were listed as a protected cultural heritage site by the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a etat, government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it mana ...

in 2006. 107057 Esviken

References

External links

Esviken website
{{coord, 59.8333, N, 10.4856, E, source:wikidata, display=title Historic farms in Norway Farms in Akershus Houses in Norway Houses completed in the 19th century Asker Wedel-Jarlsberg family Paus family