In 1948, the time-consuming task of filling in application forms to the newly established Norwegian State Housing Bank for a mortgage for a new dwelling house and barn began. The architect was Leif Pedersen in Hammerfest, and at the end of a long process the mortgage was granted. Construction of the house was started by the family in 1950. The house had one and a half floors and a 58 m2 base; it was erected on the same piece of land as the burnt-out house, but closer to the road. It was completed in 1951, and the barn a few years later.
The new barn housed 20 sheep, and it was Elvira’s job to look after them. Using the sheeps’ wool, Elvira created all kinds of textiles on the farm. This involved carding, spinning, dyeing, weaving, knitting and crocheting. Elvira was a follower of the pietistic Laestadian movement – a revivalist branch of Lutheranism – and participated in most of the local religious gatherings. Ole carried on as before with farming, fishing and hunting, and had in addition become a road supervisor and certified blaster in the Public Roads Administration. He was also a skilled blacksmith, and the farmstead had its own smithy.
In 1952, Else married Herman Arntzen, born in 1932 in Målselv in Troms. Herman got a job loading and unloading at the quayside in Russenes. He also worked on the boat Tanahorn, which carried passengers between Russenes, Honningsvåg and the North Cape.
Their son Arnfinn was born in the new house in 1952. Three generations were now living under one roof. Else, Herman and little Arnfinn lived in two rooms on the first floor, while Ole and Elvira used the third as their bedroom. They had installed running water using a pump from their own well. There was no bathroom as shown on the architect’s drawings, but instead they had a sauna in the basement. Electricity arrived at the house in 1956, when Olderfjord was connected to the national grid.