Kaupanger Hovedgård is one of few protected noble estates and manors in Norway and has been owned by the Knagenhjelm family since 1710. From the 17th century until the dissolution of the union in 1814, the owners of Kaupanger Hovedgård had close ties to Denmark.
Gjøde Pedersen, the founder of what is today Kaupanger Hovedgård in the 17th century, had, among other things, strong ties to Iver Wind, councilor in the Danish-Norwegian kingdom. Niels Knag, ancestor of the Knagenhjelm family, was an alderman in Bergenhus, nobleman in 1721 (to Knagenhjelm) and councilor in 1733. In 1710 he bought Kaupanger Hovedgård. Other well-known names are, for example, Joachim de Knagenhjelm. In 1763 he received the king’s consent to divide Bergenhus county in two and served until 1771 as the first leader of Sogn og Fjordane in Kaupanger.
The main house from 1851/52 is considered to be one of the main works within the Late Empire in Norway.