ICELANDIC HOUSES. The Queer Homes .Found in a Wintry Portion of the World.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 426, 7 December 1889, Page 3

ICELANDIC HOUSES. The Queer Homes .Found in a Wintry Portion of the World.

Tnii Icelandic farmhouse outside thp'few seaports, with isolated exceptions, consists of a series of one-storey structures placed longitudinally side by fide"; soys a writer in 'Scribner'sMugazine,'tt ifch broadlnter 4 vcbing walls of pods> rising -up to the 'p'dhlet.' "The side and rear tarallB"dfc'boitii c-Ve'd' ofjong strips of' turf frohi 'twenty iil6i»W t 'to J -two feefr m --widtlHlftW'- ohfe^H^ofi -iheVtlM- to the height of perhaps six or eioht ~feefc. S.toriesfllsQi.ttie-frequenf^y'^ed'-FHicQnfiec. tiot> \jith the iui-f;.and notjfurely^Ke'bo'nes of sheet). ,y pon .thepevwatls^fiet t«he-*a*ters, and on .tlie r se,,ip v .^rn t ,crof'sboai!>cls sufficient to support strips pf-sod. .^^eiron.t,\<^rthe house may.be <jo'na6ructed altogether of turf and stone's "(this 'is rare), or of turf and boards, or wholly of boards. This space is pierced with one, two- or more windows. ! The roof-turf ~of course soon forms one whole, verdant or withered, according to the conditions of the atmosphere, "and 'veryilikely dotted with flowers. . Similarly the turf walls. A raven or a dog perched "upon the end of the roof and, forming an animate ornamental addition thereto, is not an uncommon sight: The main entrance is usually through a structure standing midway in the group, often metely a roofed passage. Stooping down yowfind yourself in a. broad unfloored space, lighted only from the low entrance. You grope forward, turn to one side, and after pa?sim«> through an interim of darkness, a door opens and youenter the chief room (gue^b room). This is at times quite pleasantly furnished, though of course with exceeding simplicity and rude taste, bu-t usually it is almost entirely baie. Its -furniture" consists of a narrow bed occupying one corner of the room, often, also, a case of books, a table and perhaps a certain number 6f chairs and benches, besides the painted wooden ohests. * '