Atlantica - 01.06.2011, Qupperneq 28

26 A t L A n t i c A
With its warm, wooden interiors, creak-
ing floors and cozy chambers, entering
Austurstraeti 22 is like stepping back in time.
Built in 1801, the house has a rich and color-
ful history. Known as Landsyfirréttarhúsid, it
was originally the abode of Iceland’s highest
authority, appointed in Denmark. Then, in
1809, following his bizarre coup d’état, a Danish
adventurer by the name of Jörgen Jörgensen
resided there during his six-week reign. It has
also housed a priest school, a department store,
a restaurant and a series of nightclubs. Having
changed its function over time, it has now been
restored to its original form.
“We had the original blue-prints to work with,
as well as contemporary descriptions,” explains
carpenter Gunnar Bjarnason, the nation’s lead-
ing expert in rebuilding age-old houses. Along
with his team, he assembled the house by hand,
piece by piece, even making some of the tools.
“We had intended to use what little remained
of the original house that was destroyed in the
fire. When we came to collect it at the storage,
it had been discarded.” The team also took a
trip to the countryside, handpicking sack loads
of house-moss for isolating, as was standard
practice in the olden days.
The building process began in August 2010
in a warehouse in Reykjavik’s fish packing
district. There, the pieces were hand cut from
AUSTURSTRAETI 22