Step outside on a Saturday morning in late June and the air smells like cut grass and pine resin. The garden at Ryfylkeveien 736 is still dewy, the greenhouse door is propped open, and somewhere down the valley a church bell carries on the wind. This is what owning a holiday home in Rogaland actually feels like — not a postcard, not a brochure image, but a quiet, grounded kind of joy that you don't find in beach resorts or city-break apartments.
Sandnes sits just south of Stavanger, Norway's fourth-largest city, yet Ryfylkeveien 736 occupies a world that feels genuinely removed from the urban pace. The address places you along the old Ryfylke road, a route that traces its way through some of inland Rogaland's most compelling countryside — rolling farmland, dark forest ridgelines, and the occasional flash of fjord water when the light hits right. The plot itself covers approximately 2,488 square meters, a rare expanse of private land that gives the property its most immediate selling point: room. Room to breathe, to garden, to let children run without ever reaching a fence.
The house was built around 1938, and it carries that era's honest craftsmanship without pretending to be something it isn't. Eighty-odd years of Norwegian winters will do that to a building — either they break it or they make it solid. This one is solid. The main structure spans 70 square meters of internal usable space, arranged across a living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms. The total usable area, once you factor in the annex and outbuildings, reaches 105 square meters, which gives the property genuine flexibility for how you actually use it.
The living room is the heart of the place. Large windows face the garden, so on clear days you're watching birch trees move in the breeze while you drink your morning coffee. The wood-burning stove in the corner is not decorative — in October, when the Rogaland hills go amber and the temperature drops sharply in the evenings, that stove is the reason you stay comfortable. Direct access to the terrace means the indoors and outdoors blur naturally in summer, which is exactly what you want from a Norwegian holiday home.
The kitchen is functional and honest. Profiled cabinetry, a laminate countertop, space for a full-size refrigerator and freezer, and a gas-powered cooktop. Nothing showy, but everything you need to cook a proper meal after a day on the trails — maybe something with the cloudberries or blueberries you picked on the hillside, or a simple smørbrød spread with local cured meats from the Sandnes market on Torggata. The kitchen works.
Two well-proportioned bedrooms handle the sleeping arrangements for a family or a couple with guests. The bathroom is equipped with a modern incineration toilet, a practical solution well-suited to off-grid and semi-rural Norwegian properties that keeps maintenance simple and ownership uncomplicated.
Outside is where this property earns its character. The 48-square-meter terrace and balcony combination gives you proper outdoor living space — room for a long table, a grill, and still space to stretch out on a sun lounger. The dedicated garden room (hagestue) is a covered, sheltered structure that extends your usable outdoor season considerably. On the drizzly August afternoons that Rogaland occasionally delivers, you're still outside, still comfortable, listening to rain on the roof with a book and a cup of tea. The greenhouse suits anyone with even a passing interest in growing things — tomatoes, herbs, early seedlings for the kitchen garden. The annex adds genuine overflow capacity, whether for guests who want their own space or a quiet room for working remotely during an extended stay. Utility shed and outdoor toilet round out the outbuildings.
Rogaland as a region rewards the curious. Preikestolen — Pulpit Rock — is within easy driving distance and remains one of Scandinavia's most talked-about hikes, a two-to-three hour climb that ends at a flat granite shelf 604 meters above Lysefjorden. Kjeragbolten, the famous boulder wedged in a mountain crevice above the same fjord, requires a harder and longer day but delivers a payoff that's hard to articulate without sounding like you're exaggerating. Closer to Sandnes, the Gandsfjord shoreline offers gentler cycling and walking routes. In winter, the nearby Sirdal ski area at Ålsheia is roughly an hour's drive and receives reliable snow cover from late November through March.
Stavanger itself is 20 minutes north of Sandnes by car or a quick hop on the local train. The city punches well above its weight for food — the Stavanger restaurant scene has accumulated more Michelin stars per capita than most Norwegian cities, and the annual food festival Gladmat, held in late July, draws serious chefs from across Scandinavia. Valberg tower, the old town district of Gamle Stavanger with its white wooden houses, and the Petroleum Museum on the harbor all offer easy half-day excursions. You won't run out of reasons to go in.
The climate here is defined by the Gulf Stream's influence. Summers are mild and long-lit, with June and July delivering genuine warmth and extended daylight that surprises visitors who expect Nordic cold. Winters are relatively mild by Norwegian standards — rarely brutal — which makes this a property you can realistically use across most of the calendar, not just a strict summer cottage.
For international buyers, Norway's freehold property ownership model (selveier) is clear and buyer-friendly. You hold full ownership with no ground rent obligations. The legal framework for foreign nationals purchasing Norwegian property is straightforward, and Sandnes's proximity to Stavanger Airport Sola — one of Norway's busiest airports with direct routes to London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and other European hubs — makes this accessible as a second home even from other countries. Annual running costs for a rural holiday property of this type in Rogaland are generally manageable, and the Norwegian property market in the greater Stavanger region has historically held value steadily.
From a rental perspective, holiday homes along the Ryfylke route attract consistent interest from Norwegian urban families seeking countryside weekends, as well as international visitors targeting the fjord hiking circuit. The combination of the main house, annex, and garden infrastructure positions this property well for short-term letting through platforms like Finn.no or international channels if an owner chooses to offset costs during unused periods.
Key features at a glance:
— 2-bedroom country home built circa 1938, in good condition
— 70m² main living area, 105m² total usable space including annex
— Freehold ownership (selveier), no ground rent
— 2,488m² private landscaped plot
— Wood-burning stove and gas cooktop
— 48m² of terrace and balcony space
— Covered garden room (hagestue) for year-round outdoor use
— Annex with additional guest or workspace capacity
— Greenhouse, utility shed, and outdoor toilet
— Water and electricity already connected
— Car-accessible, child-friendly rural setting
— 20 minutes from central Stavanger and Stavanger Airport Sola
— Close to Preikestolen trailhead and Gandsfjord cycling routes
— Mild Gulf Stream-influenced climate, usable across multiple seasons
— Listed at NOK 249,000 — exceptional value for plot size and total outbuilding footprint
A property like this one doesn't come through the market often. The combination of a pre-war building with genuine character, a plot this size, and outbuilding infrastructure that takes years to accumulate — all within easy reach of an international airport — is genuinely unusual at this price point. If you've been considering a second home in Norway, or a Norwegian vacation property that gives your family space to properly disconnect, this is worth a serious look.
Reach out through Homestra today to request a full information pack or arrange a viewing. Properties on the Ryfylke road with plots of this scale move quickly when they find the right buyer.
