A white town
on the southern sea.

Risør sits on Norway's southern coast — white timber houses gathered around a working harbour, wooden boats along the quay, and an archipelago of bare rock and open water just beyond.

A clear northern light has drawn painters and sailors here for generations. It is a town people arrive at once and return to for a lifetime.

Every summer since 1984 the harbour has filled with wooden boats from across the Nordic countries — the country's largest wooden boat festival, moored a few steps from Torvet 4. The rest of the year the town is yours: shops open, quay quiet, and the archipelago without a boat in sight.

Torvet 4 has stood on Risør's harbour square for more than 150 years. Restored to a rare standard, it keeps the proportions, materials and quiet character of its era — deep window reveals, painted timber, and light from three sides.

The building can be acquired whole — not an apartment in a house, but the house itself: a private home on the square with two independent residences under one roof. Room for two generations, for guests who come and stay, or for living in one and keeping the other ready. Each residence is also available on its own.

Inside, two residences look out over the harbour and the square: generous rooms, deep window reveals, materials chosen with restraint.

The building was restored rather than renovated — bespoke joinery by Risør Snekkeri, lighting from Visual Comfort, finishes chosen to age with the house. The interiors are the work of Helene Forbes Hennie, among Norway's most established interior architects and named International Interior Designer of the Year by Andrew Martin in 2007, whose practice works internationally.

Each residence is delivered fully furnished, down to art, textiles and kitchen — the scheme complete, exactly as it stands. The two are offered together, as one house, or each on its own.

Each residence occupies two levels. Click to enlarge.