Sænautasel Turf House in the Highland of Iceland

In my search for turf houses around Iceland, I visited Sænautasel, which is a rebuilt turf house on Jökuldalsheiði heath in the highland of Iceland.

 It is, in my opinion, an extremely cute turf house, built from scratch from the remains of an earlier turf house.

Sænautasel turf house

Sænautasel dates back to 1843 and for 95-100 years people lived in this beautiful turf house - until 1943 when the last people moved out. 

From 1841 until 1862 sixteen turf houses were built on the heath and at some point, 120 people lived in this area, which is approximately 500 meters above sea level. Now only the rebuilt Sænautasel is remaining. 

Sænautasel turf house

Snænautasel is one of the homes, which had to be vacated when Askja caldera erupted back in 1875. It was not until 5 years later that people moved back into Sænautasel turf house.

Since then it was rebuilt a couple of times as turf houses need constant upkeep.

See also my travel-blog: An amazing Tour to Askja and Holuhraun Lava Field in the Highland of Iceland

After this massive volcanic eruption, only six houses were lived in again and many people emigrated to the New World.

Inside Sænautasel turf house

In 1992 Sænautasel was rebuilt from scratch in its original form with the help of the sons of the last inhabitants and is now a museum.

When I visited Sænautasel the proprietor was busy entertaining, so he told us to have a look inside the turf house on our own. 

The old kitchen in Sænautasel

This building material, turf or sod, was used as it was cheap and it insulated the houses and kept the cold out. 

There is an older part of the turf house, which shows how people used to live in the olden days.

The floors are dirt floors with even stones. And the walls are made of stacked rock

Inside Sænautasel turf house

The building material varies from one turf house to another, as a building material from the vicinity was used.

I have seen turf houses that are made from lava rock, f.ex. Grenjaðarstaður in North Iceland, where lava is easily accessible, and others that are made of more turf f.ex. Laufás turf house in Eyjafjörður fjord.

See also:

A List of the beautiful Icelandic Turf Houses, which I have visited on my Travels in Iceland

Inside Sænautasel turf house

The doorways of these old turf houses are pretty low and every single time I visit a turf house I bang my head ;)  

And even though I am not the tallest of people, then my ancestors were considerably smaller.  

At Sænautasel there is no electricity, but nowadays there is running water. 

Inside there is also a much newer part, with wooden floors and wooden walls. That part seemed to be lived in.

Inside Sænautasel turf house

We went upstairs and felt a little uncomfortable as if we had just entered somebody's home.  

Upstairs on a bed was a cat with kittens and all around the turf house kittens were running around, so lovely :)

I later found out that the people managing Sænautasel in the summertime live relatively close by (30 km) and stay at Sænautasel during the summer.

Cats running around in Sænautasel turf house

This area was the source of inspiration for the Icelandic Nobel prize winner for Literature, Halldór Kiljan Laxness. He wrote an excellent book, Sjálfstætt fólk - Independent People.

Sænautasel and Veturhús turf houses might have been the prototypes for the turf house where the well-known fictional character, Bjartur í Sumarhúsum, lived and struggled, but Halldór Laxness visited Veturhús and stayed overnight at Sænautasel (source: Varðveita sögu heiðarbýlanna).

Sænautasel turf house

Since 2004 there has been a restaurant in the old sheepcote (1843-1943) at Sænautasel.

There one can get coffee and small pancakes "lummur" amongst other things, and woollen Icelandic sweaters are for sale there as well.

They have been offering small pancakes since 1994. On the menu is also trout from the lake.

Sænautasel restaurant

The restaurant is open in the summertime from mid-June - mid-September from 09:00-22:00 (9 am-10 pm).

This is my travel-blog so do check out the Facebook page of Sænautasel for current information. 

You can also message them on Facebook regarding camping by Sænautasel or any further questions you might have about this turf house.

Lake Sænautavatn and Sænautasel

The turf house is located next to Lake Sænautavatn. The lake is filled with Arctic char and a fishing license can be bought to fish in the lake.

You will find a camping area at Sænautasel. I would love to camp there one summer and get the feeling of old Iceland.

I think this is one of the places in Iceland where one can get closest to the feeling of having stepped back in time.

At Sænautasel

Don't miss visiting Sænautasel if you are driving the ring road in the summertime, and make a small detour to see this cute turf house.

There are guided tours in the summertime called Heiðarbýlin í göngufæri, where you can visit the ruins of several other abandoned farms on the Jökuldalsheiði heath.

I would love to join that tour one day, which is operated by Ferðafélag Fljótsdalshéraðs.

The turf house is by road 907, only some 5 km from the old ring road, yet so remote in the highland of Iceland.

Above you can see the location of Sænautasel on the map, it is located some 594 km away from Reykjavík.

To visit this beautiful turf house you can rent a car in Reykjavík and drive there yourself. 

Turf houses blend in with nature - the turf roof of Sænautasel

Þverá turf house

Glaumbær turf house

Laufás turf house

Bustarfell turf house

Grænavatn turf house

Keldur turf house

I have also made a list of all the beautiful turf houses, which I have visited in Iceland

Sænautasel turf house

Close to Sænautasel turf house, you will find Skessugarður - the Rampart of the two Giantesses, which has been called one of the most amazing natural formations in Iceland, although much less visited than other places.

Have a lovely time in East Iceland :)