The lighthouse history on Kvitsøy goes back to 1700, when Henrich Petersen erected a vippefyr, a tilting mast with a coal-burning fire pan six metres above the ground. In 1829, this was replaced by an 18-metre octagonal stone tower, which was raised by another seven metres in 1859 and fitted with an oil lamp and lens system. That 1859 tower is the oldest stone lighthouse tower in Norway still functioning as a lighthouse, now standing 27 metres tall with a focal height of 45 metres above sea level. Its second-order Fresnel lens throws four white flashes every 40 seconds visible for 18.5 nautical miles. The station was electrified in 1938, automated in 1969, and legally protected in 1998.
Among the keepers was Ole Paus Ibsen, half-brother of playwright Henrik Ibsen. Both were sons of Knud Ibsen, though from different chapters of the family's troubled history. Ole had trained as a ship's captain before going ashore to run a general store and eventually becoming a lighthouse assistant on Kvitsøy. The island also attracted the painter Lauritz Haaland, who built a villa and studio in Swiss chalet style here in 1889; he held a joint exhibition with Edvard Munch in Haugesund in 1906. The villa now operates as Lauritz Lodge accommodation.
In 2005, a replica of the original 1700 vippefyr was erected next to the lighthouse as Kvitsøy's millennium monument, linking three centuries of navigation history on one headland. The island is reached by car ferry from Mekjarvik, about 35 minutes.
Among the keepers was Ole Paus Ibsen, half-brother of playwright Henrik Ibsen. Both were sons of Knud Ibsen, though from different chapters of the family's troubled history. Ole had trained as a ship's captain before going ashore to run a general store and eventually becoming a lighthouse assistant on Kvitsøy. The island also attracted the painter Lauritz Haaland, who built a villa and studio in Swiss chalet style here in 1889; he held a joint exhibition with Edvard Munch in Haugesund in 1906. The villa now operates as Lauritz Lodge accommodation.
In 2005, a replica of the original 1700 vippefyr was erected next to the lighthouse as Kvitsøy's millennium monument, linking three centuries of navigation history on one headland. The island is reached by car ferry from Mekjarvik, about 35 minutes.
