Around 1920 there was a housing crisis, and Ormen Lange was part of Bodø Town Council's programme to alleviate the problem. The project is an example of high quality social housing and similar projects were built both in the capital Christiania (now Oslo) and other towns around the country.

These projects were inspired by the English garden city movement, and Ormen Lange in Bodø has many of the movement's characteristics such as the long, individual gardens

access to the garden from the living room and the back lane.