Tiny turf houses in Iceland

I love seeing how people used to live, “back in the day” as we like to say. It’s interesting and educational to see how people used the natural materials available to them to build their homes, more than mere shelters, these were places where families lived together, I like how they made individual places for each part of living, one building for living/sleeping, one building for cooking, another building for storage and so on. They kept each building small so it could easily be heated in the winter, and also so that it could easily be torn down and rebuilt without disrupting the entire household.

They didn’t have access to wood (trees) so much of what they used was volcanic rock and turf. They also tore down and rebuilt the spaces about once a generation, reusing the rock and anything else they could reuse, digging out new turf to chink between the rock. They also built partially into the ground, using the earth to insulate and protect their living spaces. They built in small narrow hallways, or tunnels between the living spaces so they didn’t have to go outside to get from one living space to another, a real heat saving move in the winter.

I don’t know how their summers were, but I suspect being dug into a hill also helped to keep the living spaces cooler. It seems they didn’t have much privacy, everyone slept in the same room, fortunately it seems everyone had separate beds, at least only a couple or a few people slept together per bed, there were slight partitions between the beds, but nothing like how we live today. I suppose if that’s all you know, then you would be used to it and live accordingly.

I also understand that since they had very little wood, they actually used their own body heat to keep the living spaces warm, another good reason for everyone to reside and sleep in the same room.

This video was quite interesting and eye opening, apparently that way of life has just come to an end, merely one generation ago, there are still people alive who grew up living that way.