ÅSTA HOLTH-MUSEET PÅ LEIRÅKER

Leiråker – The Home of Author Åsta Holth

Leiråker is the small farm that the writer Åsta Holth built as her home after World War II. Åsta later bequeathed the entire property, including all its contents, to Finnetunet. In 2004, Leiråker was opened as a museum dedicated to Åsta Holth and her work as an author.

Åsta Holth (1904–1999) received Leiråker from the nearby family farm Revholtet as a place to settle. She began building the farm during World War II, but due to difficulties obtaining cement and other construction materials during the war, most of the building work did not begin until after peace came in 1945.

Leiråker was Åsta Holth’s small farm, where she kept cows, pigs and chickens, and grew vegetables for sale. It was also the setting for much of her work as a writer, although for a period she had a small writing studio in the centre of Svullrya.

The buildings at Leiråker remain much as they were during Åsta’s lifetime. The property includes the main house, which she expanded twice, a storehouse (stabbur), a barn with an attached pig and chicken house, a storage shed, an outhouse, and a small playhouse. For a time, Åsta’s brother even ran a small kiosk from the playhouse, back when traffic passing the farm moved at a much slower pace.

Åsta Holth was much more than a farmer and writer of novels, short stories and poetry collections. She was also deeply involved in traditional handicrafts, particularly textile work, and worked as a handicraft teacher at schools in both Grue and Åsnes.

It was Åsta who created the Finnskog traditional costume (Finnskogbunad) after extensive research into historical textiles in museums and long collaboration with experts in Finland. The Finnskogbunad exists in both women’s and men’s versions, and in the early years Åsta herself wove much of the fabric on her own loom.

Åsta was also active in the board of Finnetunet, where she was a popular guide for visitors. For many decades she played a key role in cultural life through her work with Grue Finnskog Youth Association, whose community hall Skogheim is located close to Leiråker.

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