History of Bjørnhollia

But Bjørnhollia and the surrounding mountains have been used through the ages by villagers, long before the settlement at Atnsjøen and in Atndalen, which began around 1750. It was Gudbrandsdøler who migrated eastwards to the areas where there were no people stuck, and made use of fishing lakes and hamings. And as early as the Stone Age, the mountain was used for subsistence, in the rich wild reindeer migration around here.

Establishment of a mountain farm

The characteristic terrace shapes that make up the original area of Bjørnhollia probably made the placement of the mountain pasture quite easy. In 1714, three farms (Loftsgård, Øvre Dale and Øvre Veggem in Sel) were granted permission to take up summer farms "in Hollet in Musvoldalen". The next thing that is mentioned in writing is that bailiff Lyng in 1801 won about these sætrane "... which Brug Sels Almue still reserves unhindered". After changing use and ownership, a summer cottage and a large barn were built in 1873 by Iver Wålen, who was a timber maker and came from Gausdal. If you look at the new part of the stone wall that is closest to the new sleeping house, there is a stone with the inscription IW 1873, and this is from the wall in the old barn that was demolished in 1981.

From the early years, tourists visited Bjørnhollia, and after a quarter of an hour organized accommodation started down in the valley at Nesset and in Strømbu. Furthermore, Pål Stakston sold his agency business in Oslo and moved with his farm and goat's message to Musvoldsæter, where the princely mountain hut in these areas grew after a quarter of an hour.

Tourism increases

Around nineteen hundred, Stakston also bought Bjørnhollia, and in 1922 the bureisers Hanna and Johannes Øyen from Atndalen rented the farm. John used the mountain for rupee hunting in the winter, when Hannah took care of the animals and young down in the valley. In this way, this town was the most important reason why there was a livelihood for a family after a quarter of an hour on the small mountain farm. And the number of tourists increased. Likewise, the people at Gamalsætra on the other side of Myllinga had gradually begun to receive guests, and throughout the thirties there were three mountain quarters/mountain cabins in operation within half an hour's walk. Of these, Bjørnhollia was by far the smallest, and after the Norwegian Trekking Association had bought the town in 1941, the association started with development just after the end of the war in 1945. As early as 1942, the architects Henrik Nissen and Gunnar Brynning had drawn a draft for a facility with two new houses with a total of 24 beds. These plans were not realized, but Nissen used the ideas in the new draft, but added twice as much capacity.

In the winter of 45/46, the timber was chopped, joined together and "baked" on a saw below Musvoldsæter, and in the snowy winter of 46/47, the rough and long logs were driven to Bjørnhollia and laid in chunks. All transport was of course done by horse, and it was Johannes Øyen with his sons and relatives who were responsible for that part of the work

Timber of the main building 

Early in the spring of 1947, Georg Lien and five others from Sollia began the major work of building the main building. The technique of chopping and planing the timber oval is very laborious, and is a method that is best known in Telemark and Setesdal. Nevertheless, the team managed to get the house under roof in the autumn.

For St. Hans 1948, the cabin was ready for inauguration, and a whole new era started on the mountain farm under Veslesstarvten. A cart road down to Atnsjøen was built, and this was a great relief against splitting from Gammelgarden. The facility was not completely in order until 1952, but then, in addition to the main building, there was a lodging house, an operating wing, and an angle to the same house with two showers and a sauna. 48 beds and a dining area for 40 were ready to receive the increasing stream of people who wanted to go to the mountains. From now on, it was Hanna and Johannes who were in charge of the operation, and the summer pasture continued as before in the old barn.

The road is in place

In 1959, Jenny and Hans Øyen took over the operation of the cabin, which had not changed significantly after the development in the forties. But in 1966, a tractor road was built from Gammelgarden, something that had a lot to say for the mode of driving. Not only was it easier and nicer to get goods, but it also had an effect on the kind of food that could be served. The ever-present sausage bucket in the cellar was quickly replaced by available frozen goods down in the valley, and the wood that had previously been chopped and driven from the slopes around the cabin, was now finished produced down in the valley. This was a great advantage in terms of work, because one could now chop and cut this wood at times of the year when it was otherwise not so busy.

Large increase in the number of guests

Around this time, the number of overnight stays began to increase more sharply, so that by the time the seventies came, the cabin was almost blown up. From 1972 Storm Øyen has been in charge, and from 1985 together with Hilde Fridtun Øyen. Storm's sister, Mille Nørstenget, has been a permanent chef since the late sixties. At the end of the seventies, the diesel generator came to the cabins, something the hosts at most of the cabins might have waited a long time for. Here at Bjørnholia, the unit was installed in June 1979, and some labor-saving machines were installed. At the same time, the first planning of development began, and in the autumn of 1980 the board committee had a meeting at Bjørnhollia where a number of liners were raised. Over the winter, it was clear that the cabin was going to be, and a two-part project was drawn and calculated. In May 1981, the old barn was demolished, and a new one was erected. On the old barn site, the new sleeping house was built, and new toilets were built in extension of the generator house. At Easter 1982, the dormitory was in use, and in the summer the contracting company Grønvold started the expansion of the main building. After various redecorations in the kitchen and in the old dining room, the facility was in use as it is mostly now until the summer season of 1983. From that time, the number of overnight stays has increased from four thousand to a peak in 1989 of eight thousand.

In the summer of 1992, the "second generation" of diesel generators was installed, and this gong is a major consideration for the environment. Less noise is one effect, but the biggest change lies in the fact that in addition to greater power in electricity, just as soft energy is extracted in the form of hot water.

In 1999, Hilde and Storm Øyen decided to quit as managers, and for the prince gong side DNT bought Bjørnhollia, there were other managers than the Øyen family from Atnadalen.

The new managers were Beate Øygarden and Svein Aaseng from Heidal in Gudbrandsdalen. They quit as manager of the DNT cabin Liomseter in Gausdal Vestfjell, and took the sons Sigurd and Storm with them and took over the operation of Bjørnhollia at Easter 2000.

Still a unique atmosphere

Through all this development, the city has, in many opinions, managed to keep up with the harmony and most of the idyll. The name Bjørnhollia is a corruption of the original doctor, which was Bjøynnollie. The bear was not in the hole, but in the scree (ol = scree). This mold is still used locally.