"Dønnes gård" (6 of 9)
Description
This illustration shows the layout of the farm's buildings and their southeast elevations as they were in 1868 and as they mainly were up to the great fire in 1892. Some of these buildings dated back some 200 years to the days when Peder Tønder owned the estate. The primarily domestic buildings were gathered around a courtyard that opens up towards the south (to the left of the drawing). The buildings used in animal husbandry and hay and grain production were gathered in the group to the right.
This how the historian Axel Coldevin describes the farm:
"The courtyard is surrounded by the large farmhouse with reception rooms, office and vicar's chamber (to the left). The central part contains living rooms, schoolroom, kitchen and an additional food preparation room with a freestanding larder and an underground storehouse at the back. The wing to the right contains the servants' quarters with a woodwork workshop, kitchen, living quarters and on the other side of the passage through the building were the storeroom for fishing tackle, a room with an indoor well, the laundry room and the laundry storage room. Behind the farmhouse there were another storehouse and a building with rooms for butchery and the mangle. Further to the right were the other farm buildings: the machine shed with threshing barn and grain store
This how the historian Axel Coldevin describes the farm:
"The courtyard is surrounded by the large farmhouse with reception rooms, office and vicar's chamber (to the left). The central part contains living rooms, schoolroom, kitchen and an additional food preparation room with a freestanding larder and an underground storehouse at the back. The wing to the right contains the servants' quarters with a woodwork workshop, kitchen, living quarters and on the other side of the passage through the building were the storeroom for fishing tackle, a room with an indoor well, the laundry room and the laundry storage room. Behind the farmhouse there were another storehouse and a building with rooms for butchery and the mangle. Further to the right were the other farm buildings: the machine shed with threshing barn and grain store
the stable and pigsty
and the cattle and hay barn."
Mr Coldevin does not mention the two smaller buildings by the entrance to the courtyard, but their symmetrical position and layout signaled style and dignity to those who approached. There is still also a painting, hanging in one of the reception rooms, that shows the farm before the fire in 1892.
The 13th century Håkon Håkonsson's saga mentions the then owner of the Dønnes estate and he is also thought to have possibly built the church.
The Dønnes estate is mentioned in the 13th century Håkon Håkonsson's saga and the then owner was Pål Vågaskalm and it is thought that he might have had the church built. Another notable owner was Peder Christophersøn Tønder (1641-1694) and he was the first owner in residence for several hundred years. He held the post as the Danish king's representative for the county of Nordland and would normally have been expected to reside in Bodin (Bodø), but as the official lodgings were in a poor state, he was given permission to be at Dønnes. The Coldevin family came into ownership through marriage and remained for five generations. They were keen on new farming methods and developed their own variety of barley, Dønnesbygg
Mr Coldevin does not mention the two smaller buildings by the entrance to the courtyard, but their symmetrical position and layout signaled style and dignity to those who approached. There is still also a painting, hanging in one of the reception rooms, that shows the farm before the fire in 1892.
The 13th century Håkon Håkonsson's saga mentions the then owner of the Dønnes estate and he is also thought to have possibly built the church.
The Dønnes estate is mentioned in the 13th century Håkon Håkonsson's saga and the then owner was Pål Vågaskalm and it is thought that he might have had the church built. Another notable owner was Peder Christophersøn Tønder (1641-1694) and he was the first owner in residence for several hundred years. He held the post as the Danish king's representative for the county of Nordland and would normally have been expected to reside in Bodin (Bodø), but as the official lodgings were in a poor state, he was given permission to be at Dønnes. The Coldevin family came into ownership through marriage and remained for five generations. They were keen on new farming methods and developed their own variety of barley, Dønnesbygg
ran a dairy and this was the first Norwegian farm to have a tractor. When Isach Jørgen Coldevin (1877-1968) went bankrupt, the estate was sold off as many separate properties. The Løvdahl family bought the main farmstead in 1917, and today the farm is owned by the fourth generation Løvdahl.
