Exploring one of the torfbæir, the turf houses of Iceland, abandoned since 1986

@ElentirENG ES 2·04·2024 · 22:43 0

Many countries in the world have their own traditional architecture, adapted to their conditions and the resources available to them.

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Iceland is a very cold country. Initially populated by the Normans (also known as Vikings), their first buildings were communal homes. At the end of the 18th century, construction began on a type of housing that took advantage of an abundant resource in the country, grass, and its particular orography: the torfbær (plural torfbæir). It was a very common type of construction in Iceland until well into the 20th century. Today these houses are disappearing little by little.

A torfbær (also known as torfkofa, grass hut) is built with wood and uses grass as insulation in its roof, using the terrain to integrate into it. Its appearance will be very familiar to fans of the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, since it is very reminiscent of hobbit houses. This curious architectural style was not only used to build homes, but also churches.

The drawback that torfbæir have is their relative isolation, in many cases. In addition, they were houses that required constant maintenance, since the wind of Iceland usually caused damage to the grass on the roof, in addition to replacing the rotted wood.

Perhaps for these reasons, one of them was abandoned by the youngest members of the Peterson family, who for generations lived in that beautiful house, to go live in the city. The only one who stayed there was Jakov, the father of the family, a teacher who died in 1986. Since then this house has been abandoned, although in good condition. It is as if time has stopped inside. A few weeks ago, Bros Of Decay explored this beautiful abandoned house:

You can see some screenshots of this video below. This house, called "Galtara", is of the burstabær (grass city) style, the most common and typical in Icelandic torfbæir, which combines wood and grass.

The upper floor of the house. It has a desk, two beds, a bench to sit on and a crib.

From one of the small windows of the house you can see the ocean. This photo gives an idea of the extent to which the grass served to insulate the house.

Toys abandoned on a shelf, including a miniature of an F-16 fighter. Inside the house there are some old newspapers. The most recent is dated July 25, 1985.