Sonia & Tim

Solstua was built as a hunting lodge in 1905. The property is located in the forest at the top of Voksenkollen with a beautiful view of the city and the fjord. In 1916, factory owner Halvor Schou bought the place and had architect decorate the living rooms. Solstua today appears unchanged from this time,
The house is a two-story timber building with a floor area of 500 square meters and is in approximately 22 acres of grounds. There is a tennis court and a boules court on the otherwise steep natural plot. The facility was built of natural stone, and is laid with long staircases into the terrain below the house.
Internally the dining room, floors, walls and ceiling were brought from an English estate, and for the middle room, antique French tapestries were acquired.
The room was furnished with gilded chairs and sofas that had belonged to Prince Heinrich, brother of Emperor Wilhelm II. Arneberg works on the site are intact, and are used as examples of his beautiful interiors. The Norwegian painter and restorer Dominico Erdmann decorated the garden room and one of the bedrooms on the second floor. In 1918, Schou took over a timber building from Hol in Hallingdal, which was placed in the courtyard. The house, called Hallingstua (Nestegaardstua), was built in 1740. It has unique ceiling paintings, which were restored in 1880 by Adolf Tidemann.
In 1933, Halvor Schou sold the property to Ewald Bosse and his wife Margit. Bosse was a professor of sociology and taught at the University of Oslo.
He wrote a number of books in his field, and was known for his social commitment. In 1956, according to the will of both spouses, a foundation was established to preserve and operate Solstua as a holiday home for tired housewives of the working class. From 1964, Solstua was used as an aftercare home for patients from Dikemark, and later as a course and conference center for the municipality of Oslo.
Solstua today appears as beautiful as when the Bosse couple took over the place in 1933. The place has undergone technical upgrades, so that it can also be used for social activities in the future, as the donors wishes are defined in the foundation statutes. In order to raise funds for operation and further renovation, Solstua is now rented out as a representation venue for companies, as well as to private individuals for parties, weddings and anniversaries.