Ledaal
Since 1949, Ledaal has held the status of a royal residence in Stavanger. The manor was originally built as a summer house for the Kielland family and was completed in 1803.
Ledaal is beautifully situated, surrounded by a park in Stavanger. The name is a combination of the last letters of the names of the builder and his wife: Gabriel Schanche Kielland and Johanna Margaretha Bull.
The great Norwegian author Alexander Kielland never lived at Ledaal himself, but he was a regular guest and is said to have used Ledaal and the family’s social circle here as models in several of his works.
Jonas Schanche Kielland (1863–1930) was the last in the family to live at Ledaal. After his death, the property was purchased by Stavanger Museum.
Since 1949—after an extensive restoration—the building has functioned as a manor museum and a venue for official events, as well as a royal residence.
In January 1951, Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha stayed here for the first time. Since then, there have been many royal visits, and during King Harald and Queen Sonja’s consecration tour in 1991, a gala dinner was held at Ledaal.
When the King and Queen celebrated their 25th anniversary as Norway’s monarchs, they invited guests here for a garden party during their visit to Rogaland.
Architecture
Ledaal is the first brick house to be built in Stavanger, constructed using bricks imported from the Netherlands. Few people in the city had experience with this type of building, so the owner brought in craftsmen from Copenhagen. The design also clearly takes inspiration from Danish 18th-century architecture.
The ground floor has relatively small windows and solid shutters. It forms a base that emphasises the upper floor – the piano nobile – where the reception rooms are located.
Originally, the building was whitewashed, with floor divisions, window frames, and certain other details made of light sandstone imported from Bornholm. Today, it is painted in a late-Empire red, which it received around 1850.