HISTORY
The beginning of what is today the hotel and restaurant Engø Gård was Pihls Pensjonat - one of Tjøme's many summer boarding houses, which prospered until the late 50's.
It was the romantic Frithjof Pihl and his sister Daisy who started a boarding house in Engø in 1924. Daisy took care of the summer guests and ran the boarding house, while Frithjof ran the farm.
In 1935, English Dorothy Grace Babingon - nicknamed "Babs" visited Engø- and fell in love with both the place and Frithjof. They married the following year and Babs gave interesting, strong and distinctive personality to Engø.
She was knowledgeable, imaginative and generous, with an unmistakable "British" style and manner that gave the boarding house a distinctive English mark.
Because she quickly began to "screen" the guests, it gradually became a privilege to gain access, and it developed into an attractive meeting place with a prestigious atmosphere.
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Part of the original summer boarding house's distinctive character was also a respect for privacy.
Famous and prominent personalities from abroad and from Norwegian society could holiday peacefully and undisturbed at Engø, protected from the public by a civilized form of discretion.
The guesthouse began modestly with a few guests in the mid-1920s. After ceasing during World War II, the business was resumed and lasted until the 1960s.
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For many years thereafter, the farm was a summer home for cottage owners on the property. It was taken over in 1983 by Nina Felling Andersen and Harald Andersen, and reopened as today's Engø Gård in the summer of 2000 after extensive restoration and modernization.
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Engø's old charm has been preserved without any intervention or alterations in the courtyard, which has been the same ever since Frithjof Pihl closed it with the Dining Room Building and the Boys' Rooms in the 1920s.
The original character of the building has also been retained, with a focus on simple solutions and thorough work with exterior details both in the buildings and the outdoor facilities.