The Overland House of Choice, MN was built in 1854 by Johannes Overland of Kviteseid, Telemark, Norway.  The dwelling measures 19’6″ x 27′ 6′, is of oak logs, and extends a full two stories in height.

The Overland House is a superb example of the three room akershus plan.  The akershus plan traditionally consisted of a large room, or stue, and two small rooms used for sleeping and storage.  Sometimes the primary entrance to the dwelling was located in one of the two smaller rooms, but in this case, the main entrance is accessed through the large room.  This particular house has a log interior partition wall that divides the large stue from the two smaller rooms.  I rarely find Norwegian built houses with interior log partition walls.

The logs extend to the peaks of the gables and purlins run the length of the structure.  Uncommon, this bulky type of roof system was traditionally used to support the weight of a sod roof.

circa 1880

circa 1900

In 1887 a framed addition was added onto the original front facade (south elevation) and two porches were constructed on each side of it.  Also notice how the original 6/6 windows were replaced in favor of 2/2.

Logs run to peak with purlins

Log wall, taken from inside the framed addition

West Elevation

North Elevation

East Elevation