2025
As long as people have had boats, boathouses have been used as shelter from wind and weather. For the fisherman, the boathouse was as important a farm building as the shelter, but today things are different. There is much evidence that the Norwegian boathouse as a cultural and historical landmark is in danger of disappearing, and at a rapid pace.
Author Eva Røyrane and photographer Oddleiv Apneseth decided to travel along the entire Norwegian coast to find out what our boathouses are really like, and along the way they found both decay, hope, and a surprisingly diverse and rich tradition.
Boathouses are close to the sea and the building style is shaped by the nature around them. Some boathouses cling to weather-beaten headlands, others lie peacefully as safe harbors at the end of a fjord. Some blend into the landscape, like the Sea Sami boathouses, others stand as small lighthouses in the landscape as a reminder of another time.
Through text and images, they document the neglected and often neglected part of our cultural history for posterity, but we also get to meet enthusiasts who lead the way with good examples of how boathouses can be saved through restoration and protection.
Naustlandet is the latest in a series of books documenting valuable building traditions in Norway, following the successes Norges låver, Av stein, Klyngetunet and Vestlandshus.
"It actually makes you want to help save boathouses, and the book contains a nice overview of current candidates along the coast. If you have time to spare, get Naustlandet. Not least because the book encourages the maintenance of another unique, Norwegian cultural tradition, namely volunteer work."
"In Naustlandet, the many photographs of Apneseth say more than a thousand words, because the photographs show that the boathouses along the coast are in a good state. The photographs succeed in capturing the contrast between old and new times in how the boathouses are dimensioned in the landscape."
"Naustlandet provides a balanced view of what is clearly a dilemma. A more flexible and simplified handling of the case seems to be better than turning all these boathouses into "lifeless" museum objects."
