Editing Frogner Manor (section)

==History==
Frogner Manor was built in 1750 by Major Hans Jacob Scheel (1714–1774), the first owner to make Frogner his permanent residence. He erected four wings around a square courtyard, accessed through a [[porte-cochère]] in the south wing. His residence opposite was a [[log house]], still intact as the middle section of the present main building. Behind it, a [[Baroque garden]] was laid out, its axis parallel to the main building. Scheel's log house was probably intended for a farm manager, and his plan may have been to build a more monumental residence as the focal point of the garden, symmetrical to its axis, and with a splendid view to the Frogner lake on the opposite side. However, his finances were overextend, and he had to postpone this plan, and instead convert the log house to a more representative manor. He added a [[timber-framed]] extension to the west to complete the symmetry, and a central [[wall dormer]], in front of a grand reception room in the attic. Scheel completed the transformation by covering the log walls behind timber-framing with brick infill, all finished with white-washed plaster, looking like masonry. In 1760 Scheels was nearly broke and had to sell his manor.<ref>Roede, Lars (2012). ''Frogner hovedgård – Bondegård, herskapsgård, byens gård.'' Oslo, Pax forlag. Pp. 60–82</ref>      

In 1790 the estate was bought by timber merchant and shipowner [[Bernt Anker]] (1746–1805), Norway's richest person at the time. He and his wife [[Mathia Collett|Mathia]] inhabited his family's town house during winter, and used Frogner as their summer residence.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sanstøl |first=Jorunn |date=2009 |title=Mathia Collett – vis og god |journal=Byminner |issue=1-2009 |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2017061981014_001?page=9 | pages=19 |language=Norwegian |access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref> They entertained extensively and invited the wealthy elite of Christiania to ''assemblés'' every week. In order to accommodate guests indoors on rainy days, they needed a large banquet hall. They fit it into an extension to the main building eastward, and to preserve symmetry they extended the building equally far westwards, to its present length of 54 metres. Among many foreign visitors [[Thomas Malthus]] enjoyed dancing in the ballroom in 1799<ref>Roede, Lars (2012). ''Frogner hovedgård – Bondegård, herskapsgård, byens gård''. Oslo, Pax forlag. Pp. 113–137</ref>  

Bernt Anker died a childless widower in 1805. Frogner was bought by his nephew Morten Anker in 1807. His business was hard hit by the economic depression during and after the [[Napoleon|Napoleonic wars]], and he eventually went bankrupt and was forced to sell Frogner by auction in 1836. The buyer was the director-general of the [[Blaafarveværket|Modum Blue Colour Works]], [[Benjamin Wegner]], who was married to [[Henriette Wegner|Henriette Seyler]] of the Hamburg [[Berenberg family|Berenberg banking dynasty]]. They demolished the southern wing of the manor and opened the courtyard. The turret above the porte-cochère was dismantled and rebuilt on the roof of the main building during their time as owners. The Wegners, in their turn, went through economic problems during the financial crisis of 1848 and had to sell Frogner by auction.<ref>Wegner, R. B.: ''Familien Wegner'', Halden 1963, pp. 22-72.</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url= https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/index.php/Hans_Jacob_Scheel_(1714-1774)|title= Hans Jacob Scheel (1714-1774) |publisher=  Lokalhistoriewiki   |author= |accessdate= January 25,  2016}}</ref>

In 1848 Fredrik Georg Gade (1807–1859), a wealthy merchant from [[Bergen]], purchased the manor. His heirs held the property in joint ownership, under the management of his son Gerhard Gade (1839–1909). He was married to an American, Hellen Allyne, and was the [[United States]] [[consul (representative)|consul]] in Christiania.<ref>Gade, John A.: ''All My Born Days'', New York 1942, Scribner, pp. 1-28.</ref> The former U.S. president and general [[Ulysses S. Grant]] visited [[Oslo|Kristiania]] in the summer of 1878, and attended a gala dinner at Frogner with his entourage.<ref>Gade, Ingeborg: ''Stamtavle over slegterne Gade og Wallem'', Kristiania 1921, p.56-57.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://snl.no/Gade|title= Gade|publisher=  Store norske leksikon |author= |accessdate= January 25,  2016}}</ref>

Major parts of the farmland belonging to the manor was sold and built up through the end of the 19th century as the city expanded, but around one square kilometer remained when the city of Oslo bought the property in 1896 to secure space for further urban development and a new cemetery. The last private owner, Gerhard Gade, retained the right to inhabit the house until his death in 1909. This spared the house from demolition, and an economic recession prevented further building on the land.<ref>[http://www.oslomuseum.no/bymuseet/default.asp?ArtID=1131  Frogner Manor] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916073128/http://www.oslomuseum.no/bymuseet/default.asp?ArtID=1131 |date=2009-09-16 }} (Oslo Museum) </ref>

In the meantime, the house was recognised as an important cultural monument. It was restored and placed at the disposal of the [[Oslo City Museum]].