By Clyde Noel

A visit to Margie and Bill Utzinger’s home in Los Altos Hills is like a visit to Norway. The cheerfully decorated home has Norwegian rosemaling and traditional craftsmanship throughout.

“This house has everything I need, plus a fantastic view,” Bill said. “After practicing surgery and teaching at Stanford Medical School for 44 years, I’m very content living here.”

Margie expressed the same feeling. “We love it here. It’s everything I need, plus I have my art studio where I work three or four days every week. On Tuesdays I paint with a group of my girlfriends.”

Margie’s Norwegian rosemaling painting is evident all over the house, on wooden wall surfaces and on individual wooden plates.

The rosemaling art form originated in Norway in the 1700s and is currently enjoying a revival. Rosemaling, which reflects the influences of the French-Rococo and Baroque styles, literally means “rose painting.”

Margie explained that rosemaling developed independently in various regions of Norway, which resulted in many unique styles. Telemark is the best-known style, and that is what she enjoys painting. It has graceful “C” and “S” lines, with overlapping scrolls and imaginative flowers, and can be found on the plates she designs. Rosemaling originally appeared on essential items, such as plates, bowls, spoons and furniture.

When the Norwegians immigrated to the United States, they brought their art form with them.

Margie provides an authentic view of Norwegian painting, evidenced by the book “Norwegian Rosemaling” by Margaret M. Miller (Margie) and Sigmund Aarseth (Scribner, 1974).

The Utzingers’ ranch-style home was built in 1953. The Utzingers purchased it in 1973 and have lived in it ever since. The four bedroom-three bath home has approximately 2,600 square feet of living space on a hilly two-acre lot. Built at the end of a long drive, the home sits on a flag lot.

Like many residents of the Hills, the Utzingers spend a lot of time in their kitchen, which has been recently modernized. Rebuilt and pushed out into other living spaces in 2002, it is now a gathering place for friends because the Utzingers often entertain.

“There were 62 students in the Stanford Medical School class of 1953, and we recently had our 50th reunion here in the house; 35 doctors and their wives came for the party,” Bill said.

Margie is a member of the Los Altos Hills Women’s Club and holds occasional meetings in the house, so the kitchen gets a lot of guest usage.

The kitchen features a center island of Madura Gold granite, with aqua-colored cabinetry. A special molding of rosemaling with Swiss “chip carving” design circles the room.

Although David, the Utzingers’ son, is studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, his room is a reflection of his interests, with a huge John Coltrane poster on the wall. Going back to David’s earlier years, the story of “Peter Rabbit,” painted by his grandfather Gaehard Miller, remains on his closet door.

Near the kitchen is the workshop, where Bill spends much of his time. His machines include a wood lathe, drill press, radial angle saw and delta band saw, which help him crank out wooden bowls up to 12 inches in diameter that Margie paints. On the walls are numerous pictures of skiing scenes that have a personal meaning.

“My entire life was devoted to medicine and skiing,” Bill said. “I was the medical doctor for the downhill U.S. ski team in Europe and Canada for five years. Those years included the Calgary Winter Olympics.”

The free-standing pool house, or art studio, is a relatively new building, since the original pool house was destroyed in the 1989 earthquake.

“It’s a Norwegian pool house with the entire ceiling panels covered with Telemark designs,” Margie said. “There is a lot of free-flowing design in the blue panel areas. Note the design is symmetrical.”

To the right of the house, near the garage, is a grape arbor planted by David years ago that now produces. On the other side of the lot is a small cultured vineyard growing different varieties of grapes.

Overlooking the vineyard is a large deck with a Norwegian-type railing that Bill made. The deck was built before the 1989 earthquake, but sustained no damage.

“We spend a lot of time here on this deck, depending on the weather,” Bill said. “It provides a 180-degree view. You can see the San Francisco high-rises and downtown San Jose on most days. Now you understand why we love this place so much.”