Kåfjorddalen (The Kåfjord Valley)
Description
Kåfjorddalen, Birtavarre
The valley Kåfjorddalen starts in Birtavarre and goes southeastwards in the direction of the abandoned mining settlement Ankerlia and the Norwegian-Finnish border. The built up areas are mainly along the county road Fv 333. Most of the buildings date from the second half of the 1940s and early 1950s as the valley was evacuated and burnt during the occupying forces’ retreat in 1945. The rebuilt wooden houses and farm buildings have a unified and modest style and proportions.
The buildings from the reconstruction era have some striking similarities:
• A house and a combined cattle and hay barn were the main buildings on typical small holding, as it is here in Kåfjorddalen. Additionally they may have some smaller outbuildings and by the fjord also a boathouse.
• Houses in the countryside would be occupied by a single family.
• Around 70% of the houses were built according to standardised blueprints, most of them designed by the District Architect's office or the government's Housing Directorate.
• The designs were based on efficiency and practicalities.
• Most of the houses have one and a half or two storeys. The two storey houses typically date from the first years after the war, but from the late 1940s one and a half storey became the norm.
• The houses have pitched roofs. The two storey houses have a pitch of 30 degrees and the one and a half storey ones have a steeper pitch of around 45 degrees. They were slate, felt or fiber cement roofs.
The buildings from the reconstruction era have some striking similarities:
• A house and a combined cattle and hay barn were the main buildings on typical small holding, as it is here in Kåfjorddalen. Additionally they may have some smaller outbuildings and by the fjord also a boathouse.
• Houses in the countryside would be occupied by a single family.
• Around 70% of the houses were built according to standardised blueprints, most of them designed by the District Architect's office or the government's Housing Directorate.
• The designs were based on efficiency and practicalities.
• Most of the houses have one and a half or two storeys. The two storey houses typically date from the first years after the war, but from the late 1940s one and a half storey became the norm.
• The houses have pitched roofs. The two storey houses have a pitch of 30 degrees and the one and a half storey ones have a steeper pitch of around 45 degrees. They were slate, felt or fiber cement roofs.
Year of construction
1946-1952
Architect
The District Architects office for Northern Troms
Building Type
Farmstead
house
residence
Construction System / Materials
Wood
Map
