Historic buildings

Alta Museum is responsible for nine standing historic buildings, in addition to three dismantled buildings stored inside.

Storehouses in Lille Lerresfjord.
Storehouses in Lille Lerresfjord. Photo: Hans Christian Søborg / Alta Museum

The storehouses of Lille Lerresfjord
The museum is responsible for three Sea Sami buildings in Lille Lerresfjord. The largest of the three buildings is a small family dwelling built around 1900. The two smaller buildings stem from the second half of the nineteenth century, and may also have been in use as family homes. In later years all the buildings have been used as storehouses. The buildings are notched in local timber, and survived the scorched earth tactic during World War II because they were dismantled and transported to the mountains. All three buildings are protected by the Sami Parliament as cultural heritage of the Sea Sami.

Molforne shed in Kvibydalen.
The Molfornes shed in Kvibydalen. Photo: Merete Ødegaard / Alta Museum

The Molfornes shed in Kvibydalen
The Molfornes shed was built in Kvibydalen in the second half of the nineteenth century. Due to its stave construction, we believe the shed may originally have been used for drying and storing food. On the outer walls several scetched boats and dates can be found. The shed’s hidden placement close to the Kviby river may have contributed to it surviving World War II.

"Nilsenhuset," right next to the museum.
The Olufsen homestead in Hjemmeluft. Photo: Anne Klippenvåg Pettersen / Alta Museum

The Olufsen homestead
The Olufsen homestead in Hjemmeluft, Alta hails from the reconstruction era after World War II, and was built at the end of the 1940s. The main building is joined by two outhouses and the remains of the first temporary housing built after the war.

The Rafshode house
The Rafshode house in Hjemmeluft, Alta consists of an older part built in the 1870s and an addition from about 1946. The house stood in Rafsbotn until 1993 when it was measured, marked and moved to the museum in Hjemmeluft.

Dismantled buildings stored indoors
The Aronnes house, built by materials salvaged from the airport in Alta shortly after World War II. Until 1998, the building stood at Tyttebærveien no. 9, when it was moved to the museum's storage facilities in Øvre Alta.

A slate cottage from Langvann, built between 1900 and 1940. Moved into museum storage in 1979 by the Alta Historical Society.

A small German shed for storing ammunition, built between 1940 and 1945 at Elvebakken, Alta. Later moved to Autsi, where it was used as an outhouse. Donated to the museum and moved into storage in 1996.