Lulu Hyggelig troll statue

Solvang, California, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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Lulu Hyggelig is a giant troll sculpture by Danish artist Thomas Dambo, installed in the front tower of the California Nature Art Museum in Solvang, California, and unveiled on 2 February 2025 as his first permanent troll in the state.

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Lulu Hyggelig troll statue

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Site-level location · 34.5958° N, 120.1390° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A troll who grew too big for her tower is the story behind this sculpture, which Danish artist Thomas Dambo built inside a museum at the western entrance to Solvang's downtown. Lulu Hyggelig sits in the front tower of the California Nature Art Museum, overlooking Mission Drive. The museum, formerly the Wildling Museum, moved from Los Olivos to Solvang in 2013. It presented Lulu as Dambo's first permanent troll in California and, according to Noozhawk, the first of his more than 150 trolls to live indoors.

Dambo's poem for her tells of a tiny troll who swam the ocean and took shelter in a tower on a street smelling of Danish pastries and flour. She fed on the cakes a bakery threw away, until after a hundred years she grew too large to squeeze back through the door. Dambo told Noozhawk that the name is a Danish word meaning something like cosy, which becomes scary with a 'u' in front.

She was built from donated wooden pallets, wine barrels and lumber rejected for flaws, with twigs from the Santa Ynez Valley for hair. LA Weekly reported more than 80 pallets from local businesses and wineries and about 30 barrels. The museum's executive director told the Santa Maria Sun that about 50 volunteers helped build her in two weeks. The museum's fundraising goal was $300,000, according to Noozhawk, and the contract calls for the troll to stay for 10 years. She was unveiled to the public on 2 February 2025. In February 2026 the Santa Ynez Valley News marked her first anniversary and reported that the museum planned a birthday party for 3 May 2026.

A light is left on in the tower around the clock, the director said, so people walking through Solvang after dark can see her. By day, the museum lists opening hours and admission on its website.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Inside the California Nature Art Museum, which in October 2026 listed admission of $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and teens, and free entry for children 12 and under and members. It is open Monday and Thursday to Sunday; closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

ACCESS

In the front tower of the California Nature Art Museum, 1511-B Mission Drive, Solvang, reached through museum admission. The museum lists parking behind the building and a free public lot half a block away on Mission Drive.

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