Who spends their savings on a worn down holiday house, before securing a permanent residence? Odd Mehus and Alexandra Altermark.
It is 1999 and press photographer, Odd Mehus, is shooting a story on Hernar, an island outside of Bergen. He feels drawn towards the raw nature and the ballistic sea.
Seven years later Odd´s whife, Alexandra Altermark, sees an add in the local newspaper. “House on Hernar for sale”. The couple has since 1999 settled in Bergen, and rents an apartment in the city centre. They agree; they want this house!
Alexandra travels to Hernar, which is about one hour from their home, and takes a look at the yellow house next to the sea. It requires heavy restauration, and because of work they wouldn’t be able to live here permanently – only during weekends and holidays. Still they decide to buy the house.
- Most people would focus on buying a permanent house before spending their savings on a holiday house, but we did the opposite. It was incredibly exciting, Odd admits.
Two years of work
Odd and Alexandra were well aware that the house needed fixing, but as they started to work, the amount of work escalated extensively. No one had lived there for 10 years. They were just in time to rescue it.
- The first thing we did was simply to clean the house for things. We threw and burned, what we could, and finally we got an overview of how things were, Odd says.
The house was built right after the war, in 1951, having a square plan and three stories. Four bedrooms in the attic, living room, kitchen, first and second hallway at the first floor, and underneath that an unfurnished basement. They worked for two years!
- We decided to take all the rooms, and first and foremost, brush all surfaces. The most important thing was to keep the original atmosphere. Where we could, we brushed/sanded down and preserved the old structure, says Odd.
Where the wallpaper was in good condition they let it be. The original kitchen was preserved, renovated and got new layers of paint. Yellow!
And in between the many battles, they also grew potatoes and fished locally, wriggling fresh mackerel.
Spiral staircase from Poland
The greatest challenge was the stairs to the top floor. Originally the staircase led into the first hallway, which in turn led cool air up to the bedrooms. They decided to replace the stairs and move them to the second hallway, to avoid cold drafts.
Online they found a polish spiral staircase, and ordered it. Not long after it was delivered at the dock in a small package.
- It required a crazy amount of work! One had to do everything yourself, and the manuals that followed, were simply miserable. Ikea furniture is considered hard, this was much worse, Odd laughs, praising his wife for her practical, solution-oriented sense.
- It has been a big job for us, but that has also been part of the charm. We are not particularly handy, but with the right anount of time and patience, everything comes to work, he says.
Ants and rot
Luckily the roof was in good condition, but a new electrical system was needed, and the wall facing the North Sea needed to be replaced due to ants and rot. Instead of buying a TV for the holiday house, they placed a horizontal window, facing the sea, in the replaced wall.
- That was perhaps one of the smartest thing we did, it is pure entertainment sitting inside looking out at the ocean, the islands and everything out there, says Odd.
- For us it has been important to spend as much time as we need, and that whatever we do, we are walking in the right direction.
