The trading post Langhamn was established in 1866 by skipper and merchant Christian Michelsen from Åndervåg on Andørja. Together with his brother, he engaged in herring fishing and selling herring and other fish, as well as running a general store. A post office was established in 1886, there were calls by route boats, and licenses to sell beer and wine were obtained. There were boathouses, a general store, a bakery, and a two-story dock/warehouse by the sea. Several residential houses, storehouses, outbuildings, and barns were located up the east-facing slope above the cove. The trading post went bankrupt in 1883.

Peder Th. Sverdrup from Reine in Lofoten took over the operation, and he built the beautiful Swiss-style house (Paulsengården) after the old main building burned down in 1903. In 1909, Albert Espejord bought the trade from Th. Sverdrup. The following year, he built both a steamship quay and a new business building with trade, steamship agency, and post office by the sea in Langhamn. However, Sverdrup retained Paulsengården and lived there until 1914 when he sold the house to the brothers Anton and Thoralf Paulsen, hence the name Paulsengården.