One of the best-preserved turf houses in Iceland is the beautiful red Bustarfell Manor in North-East Iceland, near Vopnafjörður. It is a large turf house comprising 17 houses!
I seek out all of the traditional Icelandic turf houses on my travels here in my country. I love these old houses, the architecture of which dates back to the Settlement of Iceland in the 9th century.
Inside the Bustarfell turf house in East Iceland
Here in this lovely manor, people lived from 1770 until 1966.
Bustarfell is now a museum, and here one can turn back the clock and enter a different world. The "newest" rooms are 50 years old, but other rooms are much older.
I have added three kitchen photos: two of the age-old open-hearth kitchen and one of the newer modern version, dating back to 1944, showing how living standards have changed through the centuries.
Inside the Bustarfell turf house in East Iceland
There was an older turf house here, dating back to the beginning of the 18th century, but that farm burnt down in 1769.
This land has been in the same family's possession since 1532, and they still live here in houses built in the 1960s.
Inside the Bustarfell turf house in East Iceland
Walking through the turf house, one can see the thickness of the walls; they are incredibly thick, which makes them very well insulated, a necessity during the long, cold winters in Iceland.
When people moved out of the turf houses and into stone houses, they noticed that the stone houses were colder, and now our stone houses are heated up with natural geothermal water.
Inside the Bustarfell turf house in East Iceland
At Bustarfell, one can walk through the different rooms of the turf house, visit the cow shed, have a look down at an old inside well, see the stithy with all its old tools, etc.
Here you will find several lovely living rooms and bedrooms.
Given that people lived at Bustarfell for centuries and into the 1960s, the turf house has been modernized.
It has got electricity and running water, central heating, and an indoor WC. And a concrete chimney.
Inside the Bustarfell turf house in East Iceland
I love walking through the different rooms of turf houses, connected by a passageway, and imagining what life must have been like for my ancestors over the centuries when they lived in turf houses.
If only the walls could talk...
My grandmother was born in a turf house, and she told me stories from her childhood in a remote valley in the Westfjords of Iceland.
Inside the Bustarfell turf house in East Iceland
Don't miss the opportunity to visit this beautiful turf house at Bustarfell when travelling in East Iceland.
The heritage museum is open from June 10th until September 10th from 10:00 to 17:00.
Behind the museum, you will find Café Croft, a charming café. At the café, one can buy pillows, veils, and pictures with the pattern from the golden laced woven cloth given to the wife of the sheriff at Burstarfell after she helped an elf lady in labour. The pattern is so beautiful.
Bustarfell was the residence of the district sheriff/commissioner in the 16th and 17th centuries, so the folklore dates back to that time.
The turf houses in Iceland are preserved by Þjóðminjasafn Íslands - the National Museum of Iceland. Bustarfell has belonged to the National Museum of Iceland since 1943, when the farmer sold the turf house to the Icelandic state.
The family then moved out of the turf house in 1966.
The farmer at Bustarfell, Methúsalem Methúsalemsson, donated many of the exhibits at the museum, and while visiting the museum, one gets the feeling of visiting someone's home and that you could run into the inhabitants at any given moment :)
Inside the Bustarfell turf house in East Iceland
You might have noticed that I sometimes write Burstarfell and sometimes Bustarfell. Most websites write Bustarfell, including the museum website and the official travel guide.
But in Þjóðsögur Jóns Árnasonar - the Compilation of Folklore of Jón Árnason I saw it written Burstarfell, and the farmer told my father-in-law that the correct name of the farm is Burstarfell. So what to do?
I decided to write Burstarfell when I refer to folklore.
A short drive from the museum and a 30-minute hike up a hill, you will find an elf-rock, where the wife of the sheriff living at Burstarfell participated in helping an elf-woman in labour.
I have written about this interesting folklore in my travel blog:
The Sheriff's Wife and the Elf-Woman in Labour - Icelandic folklore
The View-dial at Bustarfell in Vopnafjörður
The view dial at Bustarfell
On Bustarfell above the farm and museum Bustarfell, you will find one of the 90+ view-dials in Iceland. And from there is a great view - it was getting dark during my visit, so my photos, unfortunately, have a blue hue.
The view-dial shows the names and heights of the surrounding mountains and also acts as a sundial.
The view-dial was designed by Hörður Björnsson and erected in 1975 by Vopnfirðingafélagið in Reykjavík.
The view-dial is a basalt column with a copper plate. I especially like the big letters on it, which I haven't seen on many view-dials in Iceland.
The view dial at Bustarfell
I search for all the view-dials in Iceland - my father-in-law, Jakob Hálfdanarson, designs view-dials, so they are of special interest to me. I have shown you the location of many of the view-dials in my other travel blogs.
Here is the location of Bustarfell on Google Maps.
If you want to see more turf houses, then I have written a travel blog with photos about most of the Icelandic turf houses:
A List of the Beautiful Icelandic Turf Houses, which I have visited on my Travels in Iceland
Bustarfell is located at 65° 35,101'N, 15° 9,524'W. Here you can see the exact location of the Bustarfell turf house on the map.
To visit Bustarfell, you can rent a car in Reykjavík and drive to the East Fjords in a couple of days.
Also check out the self-drive tours: Self-drive tours including East Iceland.
And here is a good selection of the best Eastfjord tours: Eastfjord tours
Have a lovely time in the Eastfjords :)
