Sondrup Bakker is one of the places I love the most in my home region. Rural farms amidst a vast forest and rolling hills characterize this area, which only us locals seem to have discovered. I’ve been there countless times. For walks with my family, on roadtrips with friends and on a cycling trip by myself. But recently, it’s something other than the gorgeous nature that has captured my attention in Sondrup Bakker. An architectural masterpiece that sits lonely and deserted deep in the hilly forest.
I first heard about this place a few years ago from my older brother whose local friend had told him about it. I’ve since visited a few times, and it’s always an eerie experience. I’ve even been there in the dark with my younger brother and mum to listen out for ghosts. We didn’t hear anything odd, but it was still incredibly creepy. My most memorable visit, however, was last year on Christmas Eve, when I joined my family for a sunset trip to Sondrup Bakker during a rare white Christmas. We walked through the snow-covered forest that hugs the icy waters of Horsens Fjord.
When we got close to the abandoned building, we noticed a group of people coming down from the path leading to it. What were they doing there? How did they know about this place? We were sure we’d have it all to ourselves as we’ve never met anyone there on previous visits. My imagination ran wild and in my head, I made up a story of how they were doing some kind of Christmas procession. Something creepy and weird, of course. But they soon left and we were free to explore. A few things had been moved around since my previous visit, but mostly it was as it always has been. Untouched. Uncanny. And undeniably beautiful in the glistening snow and the vivid colours of eventide.
The house is unlike anything I have seen before, an extraordinary building, and I can only imagine how beautiful it would look if renovated. With its gorgeous exposed wooden beams in the high ceiling, majestic fireplace and unique layout, what I believe to be the living room resembles a much-loved and nurtured home.
However, when venturing beyond, you come to a narrow corridor with a set of doors leading to tiny rooms. All of these doors have names above them, as if to show who once lived there. But these rooms look way too small to be liveable. In fact, this part of the house reminds me of a mental institution or orphanage from a classic horror film.
Questions naturally arose as we continued exploring. When was this strange house built? Who did it belong to? And more importantly, what was it used for?
After this visit, I started digging. I wanted to know more about the house and its history. A sign on the roof informed me that the house was built in 1959, a good place to start. Or so I thought. Because it turns out that the construction of the house began in 1948 and ended in 1960, but back then, it was impossible to cut out the year 1960 in metal, so the year 1959 was chosen instead.
I discovered that the house is a summer residence known locally as “Knolden”. It was built by engineer Morten Halgreen and his wife, teacher Ruth Halgreen. They had bought the plot after the Second World War and in the following years, they built the summer residence for their family. They had six children, four girls and twin boys, which explains the names above each of the tiny rooms.
Halgreen was a creative man who wanted the house to look a certain way, so he took it upon himself to build it. He collected the materials from various places, and most of it was recycled. The eternit roof tiles used on the outer walls originate from the town hall in the nearby city of Aarhus. They had been used in a temporary installation during the Second World War, replacing the original invaluable copper roof to keep it safe from potential bombing.
The larger than average living room was designed to host parties, in fact, the summer residence was hardly ever without guests. The family hosted countless parties, Christmas events and Midsummer celebrations. But as the children grew up, the family used the house less and less, and eventually, it started to decay. Morten Halgreen passed away in 1994, and afterwards, one of the sons took over the house. However, the beautiful summer residence is no longer in use, and it has been empty for many years. Now it stands lonely and forsaken deep in the forest, in a location most could only dream of living in.
Most of the information is from an article in Odder Avisen from March 2009, while the rest of the information was collected from local Facebook groups.
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