Laufás turf farm, Eyjafjörður, Iceland
Cited from the National Museum of Iceland:
The building history of the turf farm, or rather, the turf-clad timber building of Laufás, stretches back to the Middle-Ages. The farmhouse has been rebuilt regularly, or as needed. In its present form the farm is the product of a rebuild in the time of Rev. Björn Halldórsson, a priest and dean in Laufás between 1853 and 1882. It is likely that Rev. Björn Halldórsson, Tryggvi Gunnarsson, a carpenter and later bank manager, and Jóhann Bessason, a carpenter from Skarð, co-operated in sketching out the appearance of the gables at the front. Tryggvi was the son of Rev. Gunnar Gunnarsson, Rev. Björn‘s predecessor and the carpenter‘s mentor. Jóhann Bessason was the head carpenter for most of the Laufás farm, apart from the bridal room and pantry. He built the auspicious baðstofa in 1867, but the front rooms and the smithy in 1877. He was a productive carpenter and built a number of houses in the region. The construction at Laufás is mostly timber frame structure, but part of the passageway is built with stave construction and the bridal room is a combination of the two methods.
The southernmost gable is built somewhat later than the others and differs from them. Other gables at the front of the Laufás farm are of the same height and the window and door arrangement is comparable. Gables with doors and windows alternate. The front cladding boards were originally painted red, but have had a light grey colouring since the early 20th century. The old farm at Laufás was last inhabited in 1936 when a new vicarage was built. The turf farmhouse became part of the National Museum‘s Historic Buildings Collection in 1948 and has been maintained by the museum since then.
The artifacts which are now kept in the farm were collected in the early sixties. Many of them are from the neighbouring farms but a few originate from Laufás. The collection was started by the sisters Sigrún and Sigurbjörg Guðmundsdóttir. The Akureyri Museum manages the Laufás farm and the exhibitions there.
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Laufás turf farm, Eyjafjörður, Iceland
Cited from the National Museum of Iceland:
The building history of the turf farm, or rather, the turf-clad timber building of Laufás, stretches back to the Middle-Ages. The farmhouse has been rebuilt regularly, or as needed. In its present form the farm is the product of a rebuild in the time of Rev. Björn Halldórsson, a priest and dean in Laufás between 1853 and 1882. It is likely that Rev. Björn Halldórsson, Tryggvi Gunnarsson, a carpenter and later bank manager, and Jóhann Bessason, a carpenter from Skarð, co-operated in sketching out the appearance of the gables at the front. Tryggvi was the son of Rev. Gunnar Gunnarsson, Rev. Björn‘s predecessor and the carpenter‘s mentor. Jóhann Bessason was the head carpenter for most of the Laufás farm, apart from the bridal room and pantry. He built the auspicious baðstofa in 1867, but the front rooms and the smithy in 1877. He was a productive carpenter and built a number of houses in the region. The construction at Laufás is mostly timber frame structure, but part of the passageway is built with stave construction and the bridal room is a combination of the two methods.
The southernmost gable is built somewhat later than the others and differs from them. Other gables at the front of the Laufás farm are of the same height and the window and door arrangement is comparable. Gables with doors and windows alternate. The front cladding boards were originally painted red, but have had a light grey colouring since the early 20th century. The old farm at Laufás was last inhabited in 1936 when a new vicarage was built. The turf farmhouse became part of the National Museum‘s Historic Buildings Collection in 1948 and has been maintained by the museum since then.
The artifacts which are now kept in the farm were collected in the early sixties. Many of them are from the neighbouring farms but a few originate from Laufás. The collection was started by the sisters Sigrún and Sigurbjörg Guðmundsdóttir. The Akureyri Museum manages the Laufás farm and the exhibitions there.
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