Iceland Grass Roof House

þverá turf house in north iceland.

Iceland grass roof house.

The top layer of the earth is used which is soil that is bound together by grass and plant roots. Perhaps the reason grass roofs were originally used hundreds of years ago is the plants role in insulating the home. The plants can keep warmth within the home in the winter as well as keep the. Iceland s ion hotel offers dramatic views of the northern lights glass panels surround the sleeping area and a glass roof allows visitors to see the night sky while lying in bed.

Turf roof of a house in glaumbær iceland the common icelandic turf house would have a large foundation made of flat stones. A turf house is a house build with earth with a roof that consists of turf and grass. Driftwood was even used. Sometimes slate would be used as a roof underlay and stones might be used along with the turf in order to construct the walls.

The turf would then be fitted around the frame in blocks often with a second layer or in the more fashionable herringbone pattern. The roof is made of stone slabs and covered in turf. Records say that the church was built by the carpenter páll pálsson while the lock and hinges of the church door were made by þorsteinn gissurarson who was a well known blacksmith from hof. I have written travel blogs on all of the remaining turf houses in iceland f ex.

Laufás turf house þverá turf house and grenjaðarstaður turf house all of which are located in north iceland. The turf house is an exceptional. And the turf house tradition of iceland was nominated for unesco world heritage status in 2011. From the settlement of iceland around 870 until the mid 20th century icelanders lived in turf houses both rich and poor the last inhabitants moved out of their turf houses in the mid 20th century around 1966.

Keldur farm is a historical place and here lived one of the characters in the saga of njáll ingjaldur höskuldsson who lived at keldur from 974. The first icelandic turf houses generally had a foundation made of flat stones whereupon a wooden frame was built which had to hold the weight of the turf. It is one of six churches in iceland still standing which are preserved as historical monuments. Upon this was built a wooden frame which would hold the load of the turf.

Iceland has never had a large supply of wood for construction so mainly the timber came from trade with other areas. We use luxury supima cotton bed linen from sweden. Building a turf house was the traditional way here in iceland. Side curtains are available if needed.