The farm`s name originates from the site of the original farmyard: on and edge jutting out into and old backwater or eddy in the Gvarv river. The original farm was probably cleared during the Neolithic period about 4 000 B. C. It was divided into two for the first time about 1700 A.D. : the Innistugu and the Bortistugu ( A literal approximation : Innermost farm and Distant farm respectively) The house have burnt on a number of occasions, the last time at the end of the 18th century.

Up until the end of the 18th century the farm belonged to a noble family of Icelandic descent: The Gloer family. They were knights, law officiers and regional commissioners. From 1804 Mr. Johannes Halvorsen Evju owned the farm. He was a man of the Enlightenment, a rationalist and the local mayor from 1840. In 1849 he deeded the farm to his son-in-law Mr. Jon Jonsson for 900 Daler (i.e. Norwegian Dollars) On his death in 1887 the Innistugu was conveyed to his daughter Ingeborg. In 1864 she had married widower Mr. Johannes Gregarson of the Eika farm in Bø. In 1902 her son Jon Johanneson Evju inherited the farm. He married Ms Bergit Anundsdotter from Søndre Dyrud farm. Soon after their wedding they emigrated to the USA and stayed for six years in Seattle. Jon earned his living as a craftsman , carpenter and blacksmith and his skills are still traceable in the current buildings and their furnisgings. When Jon and Birgit returned from the USA in 1896 they at once began to repair and renovate the old farm buildings. Although they were inspired by the neo-Norse architectural style fashionable at the time, Jon nevertheless added what he had seen and learnt in the USA. On the first floor of the farmhouse we can still see the so-called Blue Room inspired by the National Romantic Movement in its heyday in the years immediately after 1900. Mr. Halvard Evju has made the interior.



The houses at 'Innistugu Evju'. Drawing of John Lindheim.
In 1921 their son Johannes inherited the farm. He married to Ms Anne Halvorsdotter Østtveit. In 1951 his brother Mr. Jon Evju inherited the farm. He was a ocal schoolteacher for a generation. His mother aroused his interest for folk tunes, ballads, tales and stories as well as local arts and crafts. For many years he was a keen supporter of the Nes Folk Dance Group. He collected all forms of art and was highly interested in keeping up the old local culture.