KLUBBEN

When we were touring the area with our second cousins from Bømlo, we went to the Klubben area where our grandmother Bertha Bottolfsen spent her childhood years.  We weren't sure which house had been their home but took pictures of this house that was for sale.

House for sale in Klubben

Yesterday I got out a box of letters and pictures from Norway that Mom had saved.  I found two pictures that match the house for sale!  The oldest one had no writing on the back, but must have been in the family since it had been saved for so many years.  The house itself has changed - new windows, now one chimney instead of two, but the basement and steps are definitely the same!  The pictures were even taken from the same angle.

Picture saved in Mom's Norway box

Another newer coloured picture with writing on the back states that this is Aunt Inga's childhood home.  Inga was our grandma's sister and the writing on the back is by her daughter Edna (Branden) who took the picture when she was visiting family in Norway.

Aunt Inga's childhood home

 This picture was taken from a different angle but the chimneys are the same, the steps now have a railing so it looks like it's the house that is for sale!

Printing on the back is by Aunt Inga's daughter, written to her mother in California

The Amund  referred to by Edna are Bertha and Inga's brother and his wife Ellen.  Amund had planned  to come to America on the Titanic but couldn't get a ticket.  When the ship sank, he sent a telegram to our grandparents to let them know that he wasn't on that "unsinkable" ship.  It's his family that we visited at Bømlo.  Our second cousins, Berit  and Elbjorg and her husband Kurt, spent two days driving us around the area.  We were so thankful to see all the places where our grandparents had connections.

We should have contacted the real estate agency to see if we could have a tour of that house.  I was kidding with the cousins saying I should buy it and move to Norway.  But the area wasn't very accessible in winter so I gave up that idea!  Had we known for sure that it actually was the house where our grandmother spent her childhood, we might have made an attempt to have a look inside.

I wasn't planning to do a blog about it , but it just seemed like it was the thing to do so here it is!  I emailed the pictures to Todd and he found the house listed by a real estate agency.  It's pricey - about half a million dollars Canadian.  It's a good thing I decided not to buy it!  I guess the location is a big factor in the price.  Here's the website address if any of you are interested.  The house was built in 1800 so was fairly new when my grandmother lived there as she was born in 1882.

http://www.finn.no/finn/realestate/leisure/sale/object?finnkode=35385378&areaId=20224