Culture and Living | Iceland Monitor | Mon 16 Feb 2015 | 11.33 GMT

The enchantment of Iceland's deserted farmhouses

Arnarhnúpur, an abandonded farm in Dýrafjörður in the remote West Fjords. Mbl.is(Árni Sæberg

Abandoned farms have a mysterious attraction to them. These weatherbeaten, run down buildings provide a poignant window into the past. Who lived there and what were their lives like? Not many Icelanders move into deserted farmhouses but on occasion, these buildings are renovated as guesthouses, hotels or summer residences. A new research project on abandoned farmhouses in Iceland has now resulted in seven published volumes covering a total of 748 buildings.

The deserted farmhouse project

A group of university students travelled around Iceland from 2011 to 2014, registering and photographing every abandoned farmhouse and deserted home in Iceland. Among the places they vistied is Steinaborg, a deserted farm in east Iceland.

The ruins of Steinaborg lie under the beautiful hills of Berunestindur mountain in Berufjörður, east Iceland. A turf farm stood there until 1917 and the Steinaborg farmhouse was built in the same spot. The farmhouse, built from timber and covered with corrugated iron in the traditional Icelandic manner, was on two floors. The upper floor was more of an attic, isolated only with hay, making it a cold living area.

Plans of restoration thwarted by a fire

An extension to the house was built in 1930 and for a while it served as a place of social gatherings. A young man, Bergur Hrannar Guðmundsson moved into Steinaborg for a brief period lastyear. In a television interview this winter he explains that he saw the venture as a personal challenge and that he wanted to restore the farm to its former dignity. When he moved in, there was neither running water or electricity at Steinaborg and no road leading up to the building. The road which was once ran past the house was moved once it was abandoned and one has to drive across fields to access it.

Steinaborg made the news in early February, when the building caught fire. Guðmundsson, who had been residing in the house for several months with his dog, made a narrow escape with his canine companion. The fire had started in the fireplace in the kitchen and the farm is now back to complete ruin, his plans of renovation destroyed.

A difficult task

One of the project managers for the deserted farmhouse project, Gísli Sverrir Árnason says that nowadays there are many examples of people starting to renovate these old buildings, either for personal use in the summertime or to turn them into guesthouses. "But these renovated houses didn't make it into our books, we only registered the buildings that are still entirely abandoned. "

There is some interest in rebuildng Steinaborg and applications have been received at the Cultural Heritage Agency of Iceland. Árnason explains that people considering such a task have to consider a number of things, including accessability, electricity and water. He adds that of course it also depends on individual demands. "The young man living in Steinaborg obviously didn't have high demands and lived simply. " He says that Steinaborg was built in the traditional style of the area and that it's sad that it's in ruind. " There's a certain loss to its disappearance, a poignancy which occurrs with disappearing building."

This article originally appeared in Icelandic by Lára Halla Sigurðardóttir lara@mbl.is

Steinaborg in Berufjörður before the fire on February 6th. The building is now entirely destroyed. Photo from Eyðibýli á Íslandi, the deserted farm house project.