The first thing you notice on a summer morning at Lysgardslia 17 is the silence. Not dead silence — the kind with texture. Wind moving through the birch trees behind the plot, a woodpecker somewhere up the hill, and the distant glitter of Hurdal Lake visible through the tree line. You pour coffee and step out onto the south-facing terrace before anyone else in the cabin is awake. That right there is what this place is for.
Set in the quiet forest hamlet of Erikstellet, about 6 kilometres north of Hurdal village, this compact two-bedroom cabin sits on a generous 1,135-square-metre plot where the garden simply dissolves into the surrounding spruce forest. The building dates to 1970 and has been kept in good condition over the decades — solid, honest, and full of personality. It's not a renovation project. It's a cabin that works, with room to add your own mark over time.
Inside, the main living area is anchored by a wood-burning stove and an open fireplace — the kind of combination that makes January evenings feel like a reward rather than something to endure. An air-to-air heat pump handles the shoulder seasons, so the cabin stays comfortable from early March right through to late autumn. Large windows on the south-facing wall pull in light generously all day, and the open connection between the kitchen and living room means meals naturally become communal events, whether it's a family of four or a group of friends back from a day on skis.
The kitchen is worth pausing on. The cabinet fronts are hand-painted with troll motifs — a detail straight out of Norwegian folk tradition — and while the laminate worktop and stainless steel sink are entirely functional, it's those painted doors that give the room its soul. There's space for a freestanding fridge and stove, a utility basin, and enough counter room to actually cook properly. Nothing precious about it, which is the point.
Both bedrooms are well-proportioned for a 41-square-metre footprint, each fitting beds and storage without feeling squeezed. One practical note worth knowing upfront: the cabin has mains electricity — a genuine advantage in this part of Innlandet county — but no indoor water supply or sewage connection. Water is brought in as needed, and the outdoor toilet is housed in the annex, which also provides useful storage for ski equipment, fishing gear, boots, and everything else that accumulates around an active outdoor life. For many buyers in Norway's hytte market, this setup is entirely familiar. For international buyers, it's worth factoring in, though it's also part of what keeps the entry price accessible.
The outdoor spaces are genuinely excellent. The covered balcony — around 8 square metres — catches the morning light and is sheltered enough for coffee even on brisker days. The main terrace stretches to roughly 16 square metres and is where summer evenings happen: long dinners that start at seven and drift past midnight in the Nordic light, children running across the natural grass plot, the occasional elk track spotted at the edge of the tree line in the morning.
On-site parking makes year-round access easy, including in winter when the forest roads around Hurdal get their proper Nordic coating of snow.
Speaking of winter — Hurdal Ski Center is close enough that you can be clipping into bindings within minutes of leaving the cabin. The slopes cater to all levels, with enough variety to keep both beginners and experienced skiers engaged across a full week. When the groomed trails run out, the surrounding forests open up hundreds of kilometres of cross-country skiing through genuinely wild terrain. Snowshoeing and winter hiking on the marked trails around Hurdalssjøen are worth the early start.
Come summer, the lake becomes the centrepiece. Hurdal Lake — Hurdalssjøen — is one of the larger lakes in the region, well-regarded for perch and pike fishing, and with enough open water for swimming, kayaking, and rowing. The hiking network around Romeriksåsen connects to trails that take you deep into old-growth forest, past tarns and rocky outcrops, with almost no one else on the path. Blueberry picking in August is not a quaint tourist activity here — it's just what people do.
Hurdal village itself has what you need: a supermarket, a few local services, the kind of café where regulars know each other by name. Eidsvoll, about 20 kilometres south, has broader shopping and a railway station connecting to Oslo S in under an hour. Oslo Gardermoen Airport is roughly 40 kilometres away — a genuinely short drive that makes this a realistic weekend destination for buyers flying in from elsewhere in Europe.
The Hurdal hytte market has attracted attention in recent years from buyers priced out of more established Norwegian mountain resorts, and from international buyers looking for an authentic second home in Scandinavia without the price tags of the Geilo or Hemsedal markets. At 69,000 euros, this cabin sits at the entry point of the Norwegian vacation property market — with the land, the electricity connection, and the location doing much of the heavy lifting for future value.
For buyers considering rental income: the combination of ski season access and summer lake proximity gives this cabin a genuine dual-season appeal, which matters for occupancy rates. A local property management service in the Hurdal area can handle guest turnovers and key exchange if you're managing ownership from abroad. Norway's property ownership rules are straightforward for EEA citizens, and the transaction process is transparent and well-regulated — your solicitor will walk you through the document review with no particular surprises.
Key features at a glance:
- 2 bedrooms, 41 sqm cabin on a 1,135 sqm forest plot in Erikstellet, Hurdal
- Built 1970, maintained in good condition with updates expected for full modernisation
- Wood-burning stove, open fireplace, and air-to-air heat pump for year-round warmth
- Mains electricity connected — a notable advantage in this rural area
- South-facing covered balcony (~8 sqm) and open terrace (~16 sqm)
- Annex with outdoor WC and practical storage for outdoor equipment
- No indoor water or sewage — water brought in; outdoor toilet in annex
- 6 km to Hurdal village centre, close to Hurdalssjøen lake
- Minutes to Hurdal Ski Center slopes and cross-country trail network
- Access to hiking, fishing, kayaking, and blueberry foraging on the doorstep
- On-site parking for year-round access
- ~40 km from Oslo Gardermoen International Airport
- Oslo city centre reachable in under 90 minutes by car or train from Eidsvoll
- Priced at 69,000 euros — an accessible entry into the Norwegian hytte market
- Rental income potential across both ski season and summer months
If you've been circling the idea of a Norwegian cabin holiday home — something real, in actual forest, close to water and snow, without the price premium of the big resort towns — this is worth your time. Reach out through Homestra to arrange a viewing, get the full documentation pack, or ask questions about the ownership process as an international buyer. The terrace is ready. The lake is six kilometres down the road.
