The villa, built around 1878 by Julius Finger, served the important Viennese ornithologist as a retreat and centre for his scientific studies. Julius Finger was born in Vienna on June 30th, 1829 and grew up in a wealthy family. Although he embarked on a career as an accountant and worked at the 1st Wiener Sparkasse until 1887, he devoted himself to ornithology and hunting.

The growing city and the impending industrialisation of his home district of Unter-Meidling in Vienna prompted him to leave Füchselhof and thus the city in 1891. At the “Villa im Bärenfelde” in Millstatt, Julius Finger found the peace and inspiration he longed for to continue his ornithological studies.

The “Villa im Bärenfelde” was built according to Julius Finger's own ideas. Nestled in the countryside around Lake Millstatt in Carinthia, the surroundings offered him sufficient peace and inspiration for his scientific work and his collections.

Julius Finger was known for his extraordinary bird collection, which included not only native species but also rare specimens from various parts of the Austrian empire. He was not only a passionate collector, but also an accomplished taxidermist.

His lifelike depictions of the specimens earned him much recognition and admiration in the ornithological community. In 1876, he donated his extensive collection of 282 bird species and 483 specimens to the Natural History Court Museum in Vienna. This collection is still part of the museum today.

In addition to his work as an ornithologist, Julius Finger was a talented artist and cultivated contacts with well-known personalities such as the painter Hans Makart. His passion for nature was not only evident in his scientific work, but also in his artistic endeavours. Julius Finger spent the last years of his life in the villa until he died in Millstatt on December 19th, 1894.

After Julius Finger's death, the villa was inherited by the North family and has carried their name ever since. Until the early 2000s, the building was used as a guest house and pub, among others. Artists and scientists, such as the composer Eduard Künneke, the conductor Franz Marschallek and the Viennese painter Hans Hanko, repeatedly lived in and visited the villa in Carinthia and used it as a place of work and inspiration.

Professor Dr. Peter North, the eldest son of the North family, took over the house after the death of his mother and lived there from May to October. The renowned professor and draughtsman spent the rest of the year travelling in the United States, Colombia and Mexico, among other places. Peter North was also a passionate collector, bringing back objects, literature and photographs to the villa from his countless journeys and changing centres of life.

Since Peter North's death in June 2021, the house has been used by the two artists Laurien Bachmann and Sebastian Six and is now once again a place of work and inspiration for artists and cultural creatives from all over the world.

The non-profit art association “Villa North” was founded for this purpose, operating at the interface between the artists, authors and theorists. It forms an open forum for artistic and academic exchange in the national and international art and culture scene.

At the centre of the VILLA NORTH, there is now a comprehensive archive of the history of the house and the design professor Peter North. With access to over 10,000 digital objects, ranging from historical objects and analogue photographs to multilingual specialist literature, the association promotes an interdisciplinary discourse between science and art.