Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 8

Nordic Life
Espeland on
his front porch
Chicago's
Norwegian
Country Home
BY JEFF M. SAUVE
O
nce there was a storybook home
called " Little Norway in Chicago "
where motorists passing by slowed down and
sometimes backed up. The suprise on their
faces pleased the owner, Norwegian-born Emil
Espeland. In 1937 he bought a " two-room
shack " for $300 at 3339 North Oketa in the city's
Belmont Heights area. From that point until his
death in 1968, he transformed the shack into a
rustic fi ve-room Norwegian cottage fi lled with
handcrafted furnishings and decorated with his
own style of rosemaling.
His family found the home comfortable and
inviting, tucked away behind a hand-carved gate
on a large lot with rock gardens and tulip beds.
The interior boasted a large cobblestone fi replace
protruding 30 inches into the room; Espeland
gathered its stones when Belmont Avenue was
resurfaced. Thirty of his own exhibit-quality
paintings adorned the walls. Ceiling beams and
door casings featured scrollwork, complete with
heads of trolls and Vikings, laboriously carved by
Espeland with a small knife and awl.
Espeland welcomed friends and strangers alike
to marvel at his ingenuity. Newspapers featured
his home exclaiming, " Norwegian Country House
in Chicago! " He once told a newspaper reporter,
" I dare say you could go all over this large county
of ours, and, if you fi nd anything similar, I would
like you to come back and tell me. I doubt that
you could. "
Sadly, after his wife's passing in 1999,
the cottage fell into a state of disrepair
and was bulldozed.
Jeff M. Sauve serves as an archivist for
the Norwegian-American Historical
Association in Northfi eld, Minn.
Sketch of Espeland's home
YOUNG READERS
N
orwegian children's books have become popular exports. In
2012, a record number were sold internationally. " The countries
we export the most to are the Nordic countries, Germany,
France, the Netherlands and South Korea, " says Kristin Weholt,
rights direct for Cappelen Damm Agency in Oslo. Here are some of
the agency's most popular books being read abroad:
☛ " Garmann's Summer " by Stian Hole ☛ " The Hole " by Øyvind Torseter
☛ " 172 Hours on the Moon " by Johan Harstad ☛ " Barsakh " by Simon Stranger
8 VIKING SEPTEMBER 2013
sonsofnorway.com
SPREAD
THE
WORD
Utdanning (ewt'-dahn-ning) = education; lærer (laeh'-rehr) = teacher
IMAGES COURTESY OF (TOP/MIDDLE) NAHA / NORWEIGNA-AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

http://www.sonsofnorway.com

Viking Magazine - September 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - September 2013

Contents
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - Cover1
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - Cover2
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - Contents
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 4
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 5
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 6
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 7
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 8
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 9
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 10
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 11
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 12
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 13
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 14
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 15
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 16
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 17
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 18
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 19
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 20
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 21
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 22
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 23
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 24
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 25
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 26
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 27
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 28
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 29
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 30
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 31
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 32
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 33
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 34
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 35
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 36
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 37
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - 38
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - Cover3
Viking Magazine - September 2013 - Cover4
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