User:Alex Kristensen/Draft of article

Egeberg Castle
The Egeberg Castle (Egebergslottet in Norwegian) is situated within the St. Hans Haugen district in Oslo, Norway. It was constructed by leading architect Halfdan Berle (1861-1921) in 1899-1901 on behalf of Einar Westye Egeberg (1851-1940) and his wife Birgitte Halvordine (1857-1930). Einar Westye Egeberg co-owned one of Oslo’s most important lumber companies, Westye Egeberg & Co. The Egeberg couple had 7 children of which most had reached adulthood when the family moved into the castle in 1901 [2].

The Egeberg Castle was Oslos biggest private residence at 1600 square metres over two floors and a tower section. At the turn of the century, the castle stood tall surrounded by a big park and with a splendid view over the city and harbour. The total construction cost was 12 million Norwegian kroner in 1901 [2].

The construction was done using quality materials such as granite and soapstone. The architectural style was Italian renaissance dominated by noble forms. The interior ceilings were made by Italian stucco workers. The first floor contained hall, vestibule, smoking lounge, dining room, kitchen, loggia, garden room and cabinet. In the second floor, there were bed rooms, dressing rooms and bath room. The tower held the billiard room whereas storage rooms were found in the basement (1). Mrs. Egeberg suffered from a weak health and was partially paralyzed. Therefore, a lift was installed at a cost of 25,000 Norwegian kroner. A car - an open Minerva similar to that of the Norwegian royal family - was acquired in 1912 for Mrs. Egeberg to be able go on a daily drive with the castle chauffeur. Birgitte Halvordine Egeberg died in 1930 [2].

After his wife’s death, Einar Egeberg did not want to live alone in the big residence, and thus wanted to sell the castle, which proved difficult during the 1930’s economic depression. In the end, the Egeberg Castle was sold to Bolig-Bygg AS and subsequently was rebuilt [2]. Another two floors were added within the original building construction: 1 additional floor was created by splitting the second floor into 2 separate floors. The fourth floor came from converting the original loft surrounding the billiard room into living area. Thus, Egeberg Castle changed from 1 private residence to an apartment building with 24 apartments.

References 1. http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egebergslottet 2. Risåsen, Geir Thomas:’Egebergslottet’, Fremtid for Fortiden, nr. 3, 1990