In the olden days Misvær consisted of three hamlets with buildings gathered around courtyards. The largest of them was Nedre Misvær with a cluster of altogether 11 farms. This illustration is part of a reconstruction by the architect, architectural historian and curator Arne Berg and is based on data from 1890. The drawing shows that all the farms had a rectangular courtyard surrounded by buildings on three sides and a fourth open side, often towards the fjord. This pattern created shelter against the prevailing winds. The buildings are placed in such a way that one farmhouse never became part of a neighbouring farm's courtyard. In 1890 there was a major restructuring of the ownership of the land to make it more efficient to farm. However, no one moved out of the cluster of farms until the 20th century and the relocation peaked during the 1950s. Four farms remain in their original location and on three of these all the old buildings have been replaced by new ones, none of them structured around rectangular courtyards. On the partly protected Ol'Hansogården the rectangular courtyard can still be experienced. The farm's main house is marked "NYSTUO TE OLE HANSEN" on the drawing. Nedre Misvær has changed a lot over the years and there are now a shop, a guesthouse, a dairy and many other modern buildings.
The illustration is from Arne Berg’s book “Norske gardstun” (Oslo1968, page 280).