The placard outside the property reads: “Where the Past is our Present to You.”

Kitschy? I suppose, a little bit. Isolated? You bet. But…majestic?

BLUE MOUNDS—November 7, 2014: Rear-facing side of “Little Norway”.

I can’t say I was prepared for that one myself either. But I’ll be damned if I didn’t really enjoy the opportunity last week to photograph “Little Norway” in Blue Mounds, WI — about a half-hour drive from downtown Madison — for the “What You Get” section of the New York Times. This particular installment displayed real estate currently selling for $1.9M, featuring two other houses — one in Miami Beach, and another along the Maine coast.

Once I was able to get used to the stark (yet ‘museum-ey’) restored Norwegian homestead buildings (eight, in total) that dot the landscape of the property, I really started to enjoy “Little Norway” even more. Walking around the property inside and out with the owner, Scott Winner, I was able to feel the character of “Little Norway.” The house itself: gorgeous hardwood everywhere. The grounds: perfectly serene on this chilly Fall afternoon. And perhaps most important of all: There be dragons…

BLUE MOUNDS—November 7, 2014: The view of the Norway Building, with dragon-adorned roof and modeled after a 12th Century Norwegian Church or “stavkirke” at “Little Norway”.

I’d take this property over the other two listed in the article any day of the week. Not that I’ll be buying any multi-million dollar properties anytime soon, however…

All in all, I had a wonderful time being able to use my (albeit limited) real estate photography skills (big shout-out and thanks to Aaron Schumm for giving me a chance to practice that a lot last summer!) Hard to believe I’m now being a five-time contributor to the New York Times. Craziness. Here’s hoping the work keeps heating up as the temps keep dropping.