For a number of years, Rolighed was left empty, and there was talk of demolishing the old house. After a long fight to preserve it, Kongsvinger Museum got to buy the building in 1989, with economic support from the Fund of Norwegian Cultural Heritage and the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage Management, which had set aside money to support cultural heritage involving the life and work of women.
It took six years and 3.5 million NOK to restore the building to its former glory. Among the features that took the most time and money was the veranda, which had fallen down and had to be reconstructed from old photos, and the windows, which all had to be replaced.