Inspirations

Greatest Hits 2022: 16 Ideas to Steal from Iceland (and Icelandic Turf Houses)

Perhaps you’ve wondered at them on a drive around Iceland’s Ring Road, or just in photographs: dwellings seemingly built into the land, doors and windows cut into a hillock—Icelandic turf houses, their gabled roofs covered over with green.

Turf houses are a tradition that dates to over 1,000 years ago in Iceland, to the 9th and 11th centuries, according to National Geographic. A very abbreviated history: The concept of turf houses was first brought to Iceland (and other parts of Europe) by the Vikings; turf was renewable, readily available, in no short supply, and extra insulating—the ideal building material for living by the Arctic Circle. Early turf houses were single structures called long houses, where households lived communally and one space served multiple purposes, though later they evolved into gatherings of smaller peaked houses. Most had a lava stone foundation, then a timber structure covered with thick turf bricks that grew lush with grasses.

Fortunately these places have been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (they’re on the “tentative list”)—and many have been preserved as open-air museums. So when photographer and photojournalist Greta Rybus emailed a few months back with plans to make a pilgrimage to two of them—Skógasafn, or Skógar Museum, in the south of Iceland and Glaumbær in the north, both with historic Icelandic houses, both turf and traditional timber—we were eager to make a (virtual) visit.

Here’s a look at a few singular design takeaways.

Photography by Greta Rybus.

1. Look to the earth.

first, a visit to skógar. the turf house may just be the original green ar 9
Above: First, a visit to Skógar. The turf house may just be the original green architecture, self-insulating and made from renewable resources.

the roofs at skógar are made of flat rocks covered with turf; the frame is 10
Above: The roofs at Skógar are made of flat rocks covered with turf; the frame is mostly driftwood.

2. Salvage building materials.

another house on the property is a historic wooden house moved to skógar f 11
Above: Another house on the property is a historic wooden house moved to Skógar from the Síða district of Holt. “The first wooden house in the county of West Skaftafellssýsla, the house was built entirely of driftwood by district commissioner Árni Gíslason in 1878,” according to the Skógar site. Some of the wall panels were salvaged from the wreck of the hospital ship St. Paul, “which ran aground off Meðalland in 1899.”

3. Paint colorful cabinets.

the kitchen cabinets are painted in an unexpected colorblock motif: pale blue o 12
Above: The kitchen cabinets are painted in an unexpected colorblock motif: pale blue on the frames, a dash of red on the front panels.

4. And a bright plate rack.

a wooden wall mounted plate rack is painted in teal for a tone on tone effect i 13
Above: A wooden wall-mounted plate rack is painted in teal for a tone-on-tone effect in the blue kitchen.

5. Hang from pegs.