Hesthúsið á Hólum

Hesthúsið á Hólum is the oldest constructed and preserved building in Iceland, built around the year 1650. It is located in the Láganúpur area near the Kollsvík bay in the Westfjords and originally served as a stable, cowshed, and later a smokehouse. It was built by workers from the Láganúpur estate using stone and turf during the time when the local nobleman Eggert “ríki” Björnsson was developing fishing and agricultural settlements. The Hólar settlement was abandoned during the plague epidemic in 1707, but the building continued to serve the neighboring estate. After the last permanent residents left, the building began to deteriorate; however, thanks to Sigríður Guðbjartsdóttir and the support of the heritage fund, it was completely restored between 2010 and 2016. Today, it stands as a rare monument of traditional Icelandic architecture and rural life of past centuries.