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 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-1-733x489.jpg)
![the roofs at skógar are made of flat rocks covered with turf; the frame is 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-2-733x1099.jpg)
2. Salvage building materials.
![another house on the property is a historic wooden house moved to skógar f 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-11-733x1099.jpg)
3. Paint colorful cabinets.
![the kitchen cabinets are painted in an unexpected colorblock motif: pale blue o 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-10-733x1099.jpg)
4. And a bright plate rack.
![a wooden wall mounted plate rack is painted in teal for a tone on tone effect i 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-13-733x1099.jpg)
5. Hang from pegs.
![turns out the shakers aren\2\17;t the only ones to use peg rails: a simp 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-17-kitchen-733x489.jpg)
6. Keep a pretty towel within reach.
![a wall mounted dowel keeps a hand embroidered tea towel readily available. (the 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-12-733x1099.jpg)
7. Paint in shades of blue.
![interiors are stripped back and simple, with wood board floors and a wash of pa 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-dining-733x1099.jpg)
![another room in teal blue—bright and cheerful in a snowy climate. 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-9-733x1099.jpg)
8. Add earthy color.
9. Bring back embroidery.
![unlike fancier mainland european traditions, icelandic embroidery was historica 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-6-733x1099.jpg)
10. Sleep end to end.
![in a circa \19\20 farmhouse from skál, síða, there\2\17;s 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-22-6606-733x1099.jpg)
11. Ensure a green view.
![in the turf farmhouse, glimpses of greenery are never far. each of the small bu 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-5-733x1099.jpg)
12. Layer with sheepskins.
![iceland is famous for its sheep, and wool appears everywhere in icelandic life& 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-4-733x1099.jpg)
13. Find pattern possibilities in unlikely places.
![looking out at the landscape. 34](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-skogar-south-20-6523-733x1099.jpg)
14. Paint half a wall.
![at glaumbær in the north of iceland, \2\20;a farmhouse is said to h 35](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-glaumbaer-north-4-733x1099.jpg)
15. Bring back the bed curtain.
![we\2\17;ve been admiring bed curtains of late (see classic curtained bed 36](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-glaumbaer-north-2-733x1099.jpg)
16. Don’t forget a lantern.
![an icelandic must: a wall mounted lantern. 37](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-glaumbaer-north-3-733x1099.jpg)
![tea in another blue room. 38](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grybus-turfhouse-glaumbaer-north-1-733x1099.jpg)
For more ideas to borrow from a historic spot, see In the Dwelling House: 16 Design Ideas to Steal from the Shakers.
N.B.: This post is a rerun; the original story ran as “Nordic by Design: 16 Ideas to Steal from Iceland (and Icelandic Turf Houses)” on February 25, 2022 and has been updated with new information.
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