Vigeland Hovedgård
(Vigeland Ranch)

photo: Svein Foss

In the time of the Wild family, there were often visitors at the Hovedgård, and great proames were held. On the second floor, people were dancing in a huge party room. But also uninvited guests were coming.

It is told that one night for over a hundred years ago, the Evil himself arrived to the farm. Nobody discovered him in the beginning, but suddenly one of the dancers saw a man with hooves and claws among the crew. Then the guests ran away from the dance room. Indeed, somebody dared entering the proam room afterwards to get the bad one out of there.

He vanished through the stove and up the chimney. The departure was so extreme that the entire building was shivering.

Ghosts have also been seen in recent times on the farm. We have no exact information about these ghosts, but lights have been turned on and off, without any people in the building; there is no doubt that there has been quite turbulent in the house from time to time, especially at night time, of course.

Mr. Tønnes Nilssen did not believe in ghosts. He was awake in the middle of the night to try finding out what made the terrible noise. He didn’t find anything, and neither did anybody else.

The servants had their own department in the main building, 2^nd floor. One night one of the girls screamed so loud that Tønnes woke up. She says: "I woke up because someone pulled my hair terribly. I believe something has happened, I think Wild is dead."

Marcus Wild lived in town, and he actually died this night, at the very time that the girl had her hair pulled.

Vigeland Hovedgård is a few restored buildings in Southern Vennesla. The Hovedgård is now converted into a tourist attraction. The barn has become a restaurant, the outhouse has become a small glass factory, and the main building is completely restored – inside and outside – and is now used for several occasions such as wedding celebrations and so on.

The main building, as it is today, were built in 1847 by Caspar Wild from Switzerland. At this point, the Hovedgård was one of the largest sawmills in the area. In 1894 the Hovedgård was bought by John C. Hawkshaw from England. In 1907 the sawmill were converted into an aluminum refinery, which still is functional. The building was abandoned after World War II, and the restoration process began in 1989.

There has been many stories about ghosts and evil spirits on the Hovedgård; here is one of them: