The Flickr Turfhouses Image Generatr

Anticipation...

Loved watching these two little boys waiting for a big wave to come in. The dog kept close, always vigilant, no doubt ready to play, or rescue his boys if needed.

"Resilience"

This roof will not blow off, despite the gale-force winds common here.

Just love these grass roof homes! So charming and ingenious in a land where you had to use what you had to survive.

The pay off!

Traditional turf houses with white walls and red-trimmed windows stand partially embedded in a grassy hillside. The rural charm of these houses is accentuated by the lush green lawn in the foreground under a cloudy sky.

I composed this image of Icelandic Turf Houses while completing the Svartifoss Waterfall hike. A history of these turf houses is presented below.

For a country settled in 930 AD and inhabited ever since, Icelanders have very few historic buildings of note. While most other European states have castles and ruins that date back eons, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything built before the 19th Century in Iceland.

The reason for this is that the vast majority of Iceland’s buildings were made to be disposable. With an extreme and fickle climate, a lack of decent building materials, virtually no infrastructure and the poverty of the people themselves, early Icelanders had to be creative when constructing their homes. As such, the Icelandic turf house was born.

Turf houses are, quite simply, semi-underground abodes with a grassy roof, not unlike the Hobbit homes in Lord of the Rings.

They were built by stacking flat stones to create the foundation, using birch or driftwood to create frames, then covering the structure with several layers of turf. A door would mark the entrance, and there were occasionally small windows (although few made of glass, a rare commodity). On the roof, there would usually be a small hole for ventilation, which could be closed in bad weather with a lid made of animal guts stretched over a barrel ring.

Though it was true that Iceland was covered in birch forests when first settled, Icelandic birch was pretty useless in building anything more than the aforementioned frames and door. Turf, however, was known to be insulating by the Norwegians when they arrived and was adopted as a primary material for houses pretty much immediately.

The appearance and architectural style of turf houses went under several changes throughout history. Initially, most resembled classic Viking longhouses, complete with saunas. As Icelanders burnt through the nation’s forests and an ensuing mini Ice Age prevented more from growing, they changed into networks of smaller buildings, connected with underground tunnels.
In the 18th Century, it became more popular to have wooden ends at both sides of a turf house, and a gable-style entrance. Almost all intact turf houses in Iceland today were built in this fashion.

Turf houses provided the best insulation possible, but that does not mean they were comfortable. They were so damp that fresh produce would quickly rot; they filled with smoke whenever someone cooked; they were dark, especially in winter; and they stank, being where everyone ate, slept, socialised and did their indoor work. They were also often crowded, housing the whole family in addition to farmhands, seasonal workers, vagrants and potentially state dependents, and everyone usually slept in one room.

Turf houses also required constant maintenance, being made mainly of organic material and constantly exposed to the elements. Neglecting household duties could easily result in their collapse. As such, it was widespread for them to be abandoned every year, and a new one built in another location.

Because of how disposable they were and how quickly they were deserted, few turf houses have made it to the modern era without significant structural damage.

The turf houses pictured appear to be modern adaptations of these historic structures, built into the hillside and with thatched roofs, but some modern elements.

Drangurinn in Drangshlíð, Iceland.

Drangurinn is the freestanding rock formation which has old farm buildings built into the base. Drangshlíð is the name of the farm, which is still active.

A change in light, a dusting of snow on the hills. A change of view.

in Explore 2022-01-23 (#371)

Eng.
Núpsstaður in an abandoned settlement in south east Iceland situated in the shadow of majestic Lómagnúpur. There is a turf church here in a good condition which in 1930 became the first protected building in Iceland.

NL
In Núpsstaður staat een boerderij uit het begin van 19de eeuw. De boerderij ligt bij de rots Lomagnupur, wat ’eenzame piek’ betekent. Naast de boerderij staat ook een piepklein turfkerkje uit de 17de eeuw. …

D
Der Bauernhof Núpsstaður wurde bis 2004 von zwei alten Brüdern bewirtschaftet. Man erzählt sich, die beiden hätten jahrzehntelang kein Wort miteinader gesprochen, obwohl sie zusammen auf dem Hof lebten. Im Sommer 2004 starb einer der Brüder, 2010 der zweite und nun liegen sie hinter der kleinen Torfkirche aus dem 18. Jahrhundert begraben, die zum Hof gehört.

Turf houses in the Museum of Skogar

The typical turf houses of Laufás

Turf Houses at Keldur Museum

© Julian Köpke

Location: Árbæjarsafn.

A raven rests on the roof of the farmhouse. He had been calling for a little while with his raw kraa-kraa and unique 'clicking' sound but I couldn´t see him in the trees above me, until I saw him finally on the roof. Two seconds later he flew away...

I have been taking pictures on this spot for a number of years. I love to be here in winter time to take pictures of the moon. There will never be one picture the same because of the ever changing circumstances when the moon is descending: The varied graduation of light in the early morning hours, a distinctive difference in color tone, the ever different location of the moon in the sky: the moon can descend nearer to the old houses or nearer to the old turf church, the moon can descend higher or closer to the horizon, and also the presence of some clouds will give the moon a specific look. Without a doubt the presence of snow creates an even more distinctive ambiance.
See for example also:
www.flickr.com/photos/7811771@N06/32216176577/
for more explanation

Traditional, ancient Icelandic Turf Houses

Traditional, ancient Icelandic Turf Houses

Traditional, ancient Icelandic Turf Houses

Gljúfrafoss (also known as Gljúfrabúi) is a small waterfall (40 m high), north of the larger waterfall, Seljalandsfoss. The waterfall is hidden behind a cliff face and has carved a chamber into a rock (Franskanef Cliff) and is accessed by a crack in the outside of the cliff wall. The Gljúfurá River flows from just north of the Tröllagil (Troll Gorge) Canyon in Hamragarðaheiði heath and cascades off the cliff as Gljúfrafoss. There are some pretty turf houses in front of the cliff, near the waterfall.