The main house at Veines was built of cog-jointed timbers with exterior cladding during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The shape of the house, windows and glass-paned double entrance door enables this to be characterized as a house in the late empire style.

It was built when Johan Peder Olsen (born 1856) came to Veines as manager of a fish wholesaling business. With him he brought his wife, Britta Kaisa Mostikka (born 1863). Together they had ten children

almost all built themselves houses and lived at Veines or in Kongsfjord. A good harbour and the proximity of the fishing fields make it attractive to live here. Beyond are islands with large bird colonies yielding a large number of eggs each year, and down. In the autumn, 1.5 tons of cloudberries were harvested from the islands. Most of the families had their own livestock and were self-sufficient in most things, but it was difficult to obtain fodder for the animals from the islands and countryside. Seaweed was used as a cattle fodder supplement.