Cultural sites invite you to reflect and learn. Making you think of those who walked the same grounds before us, who were they and how did they live? What were their interests? Often, the sites have been given new uses, such as the house Kristinahuset, which today, is an art gallery.
Kristinahuset is a heritage-listed, typical house from the "Jæren" area, therefore referred to as a "jærhus" ("Jæren house"). The house was restored between 1991-93 and has been restored as much as possible to its original state. All furniture and objects were in the house when Klepp municipality took over the house in 1989. Some of the artworks from the house, along with all the rose-painted objects are painted by Lars Larsen (1886 - 1953), Kristina's husband. Kristinahuset is a good example of a smaller Jæren house, and with its two schooners and grey stone wall in one gable, it's a good example of older building customs at Jæren.
The stone well with a well house gives a testament to a different time. The house was built in the early 1880s by Tomas Tollefsen, who moved from Bergeland at Gruda and settled at Håland. In 1906, his son Taulerius Gruda sold the house to the Swede Elias Johansen and his wife Anna Olsdotter. From that time, the place was popularly called the Swedish Crossing. Elias and Anna's daughter, Kristina, born in 1892, had the deed to the property in 1932 and lived there until she died in 1986.
The Jæren houses have a distinctive building style. They are quite short, and lie quite flat in the landscape, adapted to weather and wind conditions at Jæren. The gable is located against the wind direction - usually to the northwest and southeast. The gable walls are protected by a low extension with a sloping roof, called a bulkhead. The extension itself was a cold room that was often used for storing peat in the winter. This ensured better insulation against wind and weather. The sloping roof helps to send the wind upwards and over the roof. Today, the house functions as an art gallery.
Source: Region Stavanger