Villa Borgen

Villa Borgen is a historic manor villa at Sommerfrydveien 28 on Toppenhaug in the Bragernes district of Drammen, Norway. Occupying a prominent rocky outcrop on Bragernesåsen, the building overlooks the city, the Drammen River and Drammensfjorden. It was commissioned by businessman Alf Tandberg (1876–1960), co-founder and managing director of Den Norske Kabelfabrik, and designed by his friend, local architect Christian Fredrik Arbo. Completed in 1916, the imposing brick residence combines Nordic Neo-Baroque with Art Nouveau and influences from the British Arts and Crafts movement. Arbo drew particular inspiration from the grand villas of Stockholm’s Djurgården, incorporating steep copper-clad roofs, a prominent square tower, decorative masonry and an elevated stone terrace. The interior is equally individual, with unusually positioned fireplaces, elaborate woodwork, vaulted cellar rooms, former servants’ quarters and a tower room that once contained a billiard table. The extravagant property became popularly known as Millionborgen, or the Million Castle, reflecting its considerable scale and construction costs. Tandberg’s ownership was relatively brief, and the villa was taken over by a bank before being sold in 1919 to industrialist and consul Carl Christian Møller, whose family retained it for several decades. Drammen Municipality acquired the property in 1967 with plans to convert it into a small residential care home, although the project was never realised. In 1969, the municipality sold the villa to civil engineer Peter Y. Berg Jr. for NOK 570,000, and it has remained a private residence in the Berg family ever since. Its unusual silhouette and commanding position have made Villa Borgen one of Drammen’s most recognisable historic residential buildings.

Villa Borgen has appeared in Julekongen (2012), internationally known as The Christmas King, and The Snowman (2017). In Julekongen (2012), the villa represents the imposing residence of the wealthy Krohn family in the fictional community of Sølvskogen, while The Snowman (2017) uses the property during Harry Hole’s investigation into a series of murders in Oslo. Although both productions take place outside Drammen in their fictional settings, they make use of the villa’s distinctive architecture, substantial grounds and secluded position above the surrounding neighbourhood.

In Julekongen (2012), Villa Borgen represents the home of wealthy businesswoman Randi Krohn, played by Gisken Armand, and her son Peder, played by Oscar Reistad Fosse. Randi owns much of the fictional village of Sølvskogen and employs Anton Gran, played by Bjarte Tjøstheim, as an accountant, while Peder is the spoiled schoolboy who regularly bullies Anton’s nine-year-old son Kevin, played by Vetle Qvenild Werring. When a serious mould problem is discovered in the Gran family’s house, they are forced to find alternative accommodation shortly before Christmas. Their predicament becomes particularly uncomfortable when Randi offers to let them spend the holiday at her property, leaving Kevin facing the prospect of living under the same roof as his greatest enemy. Villa Borgen provides the Krohn residence with a suitably grand exterior, its tower, extensive brick façade and elevated position distinguishing the family home from the otherwise modest residential buildings of Sølvskogen. The property reinforces the considerable economic and social differences between the two families, while Randi and Peder’s increasingly unpleasant behaviour becomes an important part of Kevin’s everyday troubles as he simultaneously attempts to restore Christmas to the magical kingdom of Ridderdalen. The series was produced by NRK Super as a 24-part Christmas calendar and originally broadcast in December 2012.

In The Snowman (2017), directed by Tomas Alfredson and based on Jo Nesbø’s novel, Villa Borgen is used during the investigation conducted by Oslo detective Harry Hole, played by Michael Fassbender, into a serial killer who leaves snowmen at the scenes of his crimes. The production filmed several sequences in and around the historic property during the weekend of 22–24 January 2016, using the building and its surrounding grounds as a residential location in the film’s fictional Oslo setting. One of the identifiable sequences shows Harry outside the property while forensic investigators in white protective suits examine the premises behind him, with the villa’s masonry entrance and iron gates visible in the background. The secluded building and its imposing early twentieth-century architecture provide a distinctive setting for the police investigation. Filming involved extensive night photography, with the production installing enormous lighting rigs around the property and restricting access to the surrounding neighbourhood. The lights were sufficiently powerful to be seen from considerable distances across Drammen, prompting local speculation before the production was publicly identified. Although Villa Borgen is located approximately 40 kilometres southwest of central Oslo, it was incorporated into the film alongside numerous other Norwegian locations, including properties and streets in Oslo, Bergen and Rjukan.

Villa Borgen (2026)

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