The owners of Grefsheim through the centuries

Sigurd of the Skaktavl family

Sigurd is the first owner we know of with reasonable certainty in Grefsheim's history. He was married to Magnhild Oddsdatter from Finne in Voss, who had already been married once. Sigurd died before 1458, and Magnhild stayed on at Grefsheim.

Magnhild Oddsdatter and Alv Knutsson

After Sigurd's death Magnhild married the Swedish knight Alv Knutsson of the Tre Rosor family. Together they owned farms across much of Norway.

Grefsheim was their home. Magnhild took an active part in running the estates, even while Alv was alive. He died in 1496, and Magnhild carried on until her own death in 1499.

Knut Alvsson

Magnhild and Alv's son Knut inherited much of the family's property. He came into conflict with King Hans and the Danish crown.

In 1502 Knut was killed during negotiations with Henrik Krummedike off Akershus, despite a promise of safe conduct. His property was seized by the King, and long inheritance disputes followed.

Read more about Knut Alvsson →

Karine Alvsdatter

Knut Alvsson's sister Karine, known as Jomfru (Maiden) Karine, eventually brought Grefsheim back into the family.

She never married, but owned a number of farms and made Grefsheim her home. Towards the end of her life she decided to give the farm and a great many other properties to the Diocese of Hamar and its cathedral.

It was one of the most extensive private gifts to the Church recorded in older Norwegian history.

The Diocese of Hamar

For a short time Grefsheim belonged to the Church. The last Catholic bishop of Hamar, Mogens Lauritssøn, took possession of the farm.

But the Reformation was about to transform the Church's position throughout Norway. As early as June 1537 the bishop had to hand Grefsheim over to Karine's family.

Gørvel Fadersdotter Sparre

Gørvel was a granddaughter of Knut Alvsson and inherited Grefsheim through the family. She had no children who outlived her.

In time she made agreements with the Danish king, giving up her Norwegian estates in return for land, rights and protection in Scania, where she lived.

In 1599 she transferred the last of her Norwegian estates to Christian IV. Grefsheim thus became the King's property.

The Dano-Norwegian Crown

Grefsheim now belonged to the King and was in time placed under the Storhamar estate, which brought together many of the Crown's farms around Hamar.

Ownership lay with the Crown, while the day-to-day running was handled locally. So far we know little about who actually lived at Grefsheim in this period.

Hannibal Sehested

The Governor-General, Hannibal Sehested, was granted Storhamar, with Grefsheim and several other properties, as a noble seat.

But Sehested lost the King's confidence and had to return the estates as early as 1651. Grefsheim became Crown property once more.

The Crown and the Marselis brothers

The King still had large debts. In 1661 the brothers Gabriel and Selius Marselis, who had lent the Crown large sums, received the Storhamar estate, among others, as security.

Grefsheim was thus security for the King's loans. The Marselis brothers were mortgage holders, not owners of the farm in the ordinary sense.

In 1675 Grefsheim was sold into private hands.

Andreas Tombloe and Anne van de Wiele

Andreas Tombloe and Anne van de Wiele bought Grefsheim in 1675. They lived in Hamburg, and we know little about how closely they followed the running of the farm.

The history of ownership up to the early 1700s has not yet been fully established.

The district judge Hans Blichfeld later lived at Grefsheim, but his exact status as owner is unclear. When a great fire destroyed almost all the buildings in 1714, it was his widow who was running the farm.

Jens Hansen Grønbech

Assessor Jens Hansen Grønbech took over Grefsheim in 1716, at the same time as he and his wife Christine Sophie Vagel took over the Storhamar estate.

After the fire of 1714 the farm's buildings needed rebuilding and maintenance. Grønbech died in 1734, and the property passed on through his wife.

Christine Sophie Vagel and Iver Jentoft

Christine Sophie Vagel was connected with the Storhamar estate for 55 years. After Jens Grønbech's death she married the Councillor of Justice Iver Jentoft in 1741, who also became an owner.

She was later widowed again and remained owner until her death in 1771. By then she was known as “gammelfrua” - the old mistress - at Storhamar.

Her long connection with the estates stands out at a time when farms often changed hands through inheritance and marriage.

Jens Grønbech Wessel

When Christine Sophie died in 1771, her nephew Jens Grønbech Wessel inherited the estates.

Grefsheim was then sold out of the family. The older sources give 1777 as the year of sale, while some more recent accounts give 1771.

Halvor Gundersen Sterud (Robarth)

Halvor Gundersen Sterud bought Grefsheim for 8,300 riksdaler. The family had roots in the Scottish Robarth family, a name that was later taken up.

This began a new period in the farm's history, in which the property passed to his son and then, through marriage, to the next generation.

Gunder Halvorsen

Gunder Halvorsen took over from his father in 1802.

He is associated with the planting of the long maple avenue from Grefsheim down to Mjøsa. According to older farm history he got the trees from Jacob Hoel at Hovinsholm.

The avenue is still one of the clearest traces of this period.

Lieutenant Norgrenn

Norgrenn took over Grefsheim through marriage into the Robarth family.

The present main house was built while he owned the farm, in the first half of the 1800s. Norgrenn was known as a strong and sociable man, and it is said that he could walk on his hands even in old age.

He kept a large house, but his finances became difficult. In 1865 he went bankrupt, and Grefsheim was sold at auction.

The merchant Henriksen and his family

The merchant Henriksen bought Grefsheim at the auction in 1865, but died shortly afterwards.

His widow later married the Reverend Riddervold. In 1867 the farm was sold on, only two years after the auction.

Johan Henrik Egeberg

The district judge Johan Henrik Egeberg bought Grefsheim in the spring of 1867.

He and his wife Johanne Henriette Meyer had no children. From 1869 they used the farm as a summer residence, while others looked after the day-to-day running.

Egeberg had a godson and great-nephew, Johan Egeberg Mellbye, whom he wanted to take over the farm. In 1883 Johan was given Grefsheim as a confirmation present.

Johan Egeberg Mellbye

Johan Egeberg Mellbye (1866-1954) was given Grefsheim as a boy and took over the running of the farm in 1889. He was a trained agronomist and developed the farming on the estate.

He was also deeply involved in Norwegian agricultural politics, was one of the founders of Norsk Landmandsforbund in 1896 and later became a government minister, a member of the Storting and leader of the Norwegian Farmers' Union.

In 1920 he took the initiative for what became Grefsheim Nursery. In time it grew into a considerable business alongside the farming.

Jan Egeberg Mellbye

Jan Egeberg Mellbye (1913-2009) became farm manager in 1938 and took over the property from his father in 1947.

He carried on the farming and the nursery together with his brother Lennart. Jan, too, became involved in Norwegian agricultural politics and later led the Norwegian Farmers' Union.

In time the nursery was separated from the main farm and continued as a business of its own at Haug.

Johan Edvard Mellbye and Anne Lise Mellbye

Johan Edvard Mellbye (1943-2022) and Anne Lise Mellbye carried Grefsheim forward from the late 1970s.

During their time the modernisation of farming continued. The farm kept its milk production until 2011, when it switched to suckler cows and beef production.

They were also the hosts when the secret peace negotiations between Israel and the PLO took place at Grefsheim in July 1993.

Read more about the Oslo negotiations in 1993 →

Anette Mellbye and Dagfinn Møller

Grefsheim is owned today by Anette Mellbye and Dagfinn Møller.

The farm continues as a home and agricultural property, with grain and forestry. The work of preserving the buildings, caring for the landscape and gathering the farm's history goes on.