Lysøen Estate

This beautiful estate, on the island of the same name, was built in 1873 as the summer residence of renowned Norwegian violinist Ole Bull. After the death of Ole Bull’s French-born wife, Felicité Villeminot, Bull purchased the 70-hectare Lysøen island, about 20km south of Bergen. Between 1872 and 1873, he and architect Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe constructed the fantasy villa ‘Lysøen’. This ‘Little Alhambra’ took much of its extravagant inspiration from the architecture of Moorish Granada and integrated not only intricate frets and trellises, but also onion domes, romantic garden paths, Italian marble columns and a high-ceilinged music hall of Norwegian pine.