Haldor Børve

Haldor Larsen Børve (19 August 1857 – 11 August 1933) was an architect from Ullensvang Municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. Børve started an architectural practice in Porsgrunn in 1889 and designed numerous buildings in Telemark and Vestfold counties, many of them influenced by Dragestil and the Nordic National Romantic style. Among his best-known works are Dalen Hotel from 1894 and Porsgrunn City Hall from 1904/1905.

Background Børve was born in Ullensvang in 1857 to farmer Lars Jørgensen Børve (1815–91) and Anna Haldorsdatter Eidnes (1822–1911). He attended Trondheim Technical Vocational School from 1877 to 1880, after which he worked for a few years as a junior architect. His only major project during this time was managing the restoration of Ullensvang Church in Ullensvang Municipality from 1883 to 1886, a project led by Bergen architect Christian Christie. In 1887, he pursued further education at the Polytechnic Institute of Hannover in Germany. He was among the last of the great Norwegian architects to attend the architectural school in Hannover, which had greatly influenced Norwegian architecture in the latter half of the 19th century. He finished his studies in 1889, and with the help of a government grant for engineers, he moved to Porsgrunn in Telemark, Norway and started his own architectural firm that same year. In 1890, he married Kristine Jørstad (1861–1941).

While Børve had learned a great deal about contemporary German architecture during his studies in Hannover, as shown in his use of Neo-Gothic and Swiss chalet styles. He was also a great proponent of Norwegian romantic nationalism and often integrated elements from Dragestil and National Romantic style into his work, as exemplified by Dalen Hotel, Børve's best-known work. In addition to his architectural practice, Børve was also the head teacher and later administrator at Porsgrunn Technical Evening School . He was active as an architect until the early 1920s, and died in 1933 at Porsgrunn, aged 75.

Major works

Croftholmen With the exception of Gunnar Knudsen's Borgestad School

After considering several properties on which to build his estate, including on the island of Bjørkøya in Langesundfjord, Croft settled on the island Gjermundsholmen in Stathelle, for which he paid 10,000 kroner. Before Croft bought the island, Gjermundsholmen was densely forested and a popular location for vagrants, and it allegedly received its name from a man who was killed by vagrants there. Croft commissioned Børve to build the main house on the island in 1890. While digging the building's foundation, the workers found a human skeleton that they estimated could have been there for ten or fifteen years. The construction was led by master builder Sigurdsen from Skien and it took 25 builders until 1895 to complete. Since 1957 the building has been used as a school, first as a navigational school for sailors and now as a high school.

The building has a distinctive Dragestil architectural style and is painted dark red, originally with a high-quality paint imported from England. It exhibits many features of the style, including eaves adorned with dragon heads and a roof with several decorative spires. The building has an area of and has two floors and a well-secured wine cellar. When Croft lived there the home was lavishly furnished, and some of the pieces of furniture can now be found on display at the Porsgrunn City Museum. The living room was furnished in the rococo style, while the smoking room had heavy brown leather chairs and the hall included some pieces of antique Elizabethan furniture.

Customs House

Dalen Hotel

Vår Frue Church

Skotfoss Church

The initiative to build a church in Skotfoss was taken by Gustav Fangel Smidt, who managed the nearby Skotfoss Bruk paper mill. At the time, the townspeople of Skotfoss and Dalsbygda had to travel many miles west along the banks of Norsjø to Melum Church (Melum kirke) in order to attend mass. The founders of Union Co. (later the Norske Skog Union), who owned Skotfoss Bruk, agreed to donate 1,000 kroner each towards the construction of the new church, and the remaining 38,000 of the 42,000 kroner cost was split between wholesaler Thor Eger and Rittmester Heftye. The church's site, located on Sandåsen near the entrance to Løveid Canal, was donated by the board of directors of the Norsjø–Skien Canal. Haldor Børve designed the building, and planning and joinery work was completed by workers from Skotfoss Bruk.

Porsgrunn City Hall

Timeline of works

Churches 1883–6: Restoration of Ullensvang Church, Ullensvang 1891: Langangen Church, Langangen 1899: Vår Frue Church, Porsgrunn 1899–1900: Skotfoss Church, Skotfoss 1905: Herre Church, Bamble 1906–7: Immanuel Church, Christopher Hvidts plass 6, Sandefjord 1915: Strandlykkja Chapel, Stange 1915: Kviteseid Church, Kviteseid (village) 1916: Fjågesund Church, Fjågesund 1916–18: Sandefjord Methodist Church, Sandefjord

Businesses and public buildings 1889: Borgestad School, Skien 1891: Customs House, Porsgrunn 1891–92: Fredensborg Woman's Home, Porsgrunn 1893: Meat inspection building, d 1894: Dalen Hotel, Dalen 1895: Porsgrunn Swimming Hall, Porsgrunn 1897: Gjerpen dairy, Gjerpen 1899–1900: Sandefjord Middle School, Sandefjord 1899–1901: Porsgrunn Dairy Company, Porsgrunn 1900–1901: Porsgrunn Fire Station & Power Station, Porsgrunn 1903–8: Sandefjord Retirement Home, Bjerggaten 38, Sandefjord 1904–5: Porsgrunn City Hall, Porsgunn 1905–6: Hans Cappelens Minne Orphanage, Skien 1904: Dyrings Bookstore at Storgaten 154, Porsgrunn 1907–9: Bratsberg County Hospital, Skien 1908–12: Sandefjord Aktie-Kreditbanken Bank, Rådhusgaten 11, Sandefjord 1911: Porsgrunn Lutheran Hospital, Porsgrunn 1912: Årlifoss Power Plant, Notodden 1915: Hardanger Folk High School, Ullensvang 1915-20: County Hospital for Aust-Agder, Arendal 1918: Haukerød School, Sandefjord 1922: Holt Agricultural School, Tvedestrand 1923: Foldsæ Agricultural School, Fyresdal

Residences 1890–1895: Croftholmen mansion, Stathelle 1891: Børve's personal villa, Aallsgate 13, Porsgrunn 1891: Aallsgate 15, Porsgrunn 1891: Farmhouse on Helleland farm, Ullensvang 1894: Hjertnespromenaden 3, Sandefjord (town)| 1896: Holengården villa, Jernbanegaten 6, Porsgrunn 1906: J.C. Knudsen's villa at Øvre Frednes, Porsgrunn