Inside An Icelandic Holiday Home
With front row seats to a rare sight: greenery.
With front row seats to a rare sight: greenery.
With its waterfalls and glaciers, Iceland offers views that are hard to beat. But Tina Dico and Helgi Jonsson managed to do just that with their new holiday home, built on a lot where the view is made even more spectacular by a rare bit of greenery.
Less than an hour’s drive from the couple’s main house in greater Reykjavik, their half-acre property above Thingvallavatn, one of Iceland’s largest lakes, has a clear sight of Skjaldbreidur, a 3,500-foot mountain formed by an extinct volcano, and, just beyond, the top of the Langjökull ice cap, Iceland’s second-largest glacier. But what sealed the deal was a number of spruce, pine and birch trees.
“When you’re used to having no trees around, which is pretty much how it is here in Iceland, this place is like walking into a green haven,” says Ms. Dico, a 43-year-old Denmark-born singer and songwriter.
Ms. Dico, who performs under the name Tina Dickow in her native country, and her husband, a 41-year-old Icelandic musician and painter, bought the property in 2013, not long after she relocated to the subarctic island. They paid US$226,800 for the property, which came with a 500-square-foot, A-frame house dating to the 1970s. Ready to take advantage of recent zoning laws allowing larger buildings, they decided to replace the structure with a 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom home that has one full bathroom and a second-story sleeping loft. It also features a deep bathtub in the main living area that converts into a daybed. The couple share the house with their three children: Emil, 9, Jósefína, 7 and Theodór, 4.
The couple worked with KRADS, an architecture studio with partners in Reykjavik and Copenhagen, but, aided by their families, they ended up building a large part of the house themselves. The couple estimate that they saved up to US$156,400 by doing everything from applying the facade’s Siberian larch cladding to putting up their own doors.
Construction started in 2015, and the home was completed in mid-2020.
Iceland, with its rapidly decreasing glaciers and rising sea levels, is on the front lines of climate change, and there is no bigger story for the country, says Mr. Jonsson.
The Langjökull ice cap, whose peak is visible from the family living room, is getting smaller, like so many of Iceland’s glaciers. Mr. Jonsson compares it to the current state of a glacier in southeast Iceland, where he took childhood hikes. “It used to take 10 minutes to get to the edge of that glacier,” he says. “Now it takes an hour.”
Issues related to sustainability and the project’s carbon footprint were on the couple’s minds when they planned the house.
Instead of just tearing down the original A-frame, which was in still in good condition, the couple gave it away. It is now being used as a guesthouse by the father of one of their contractors, who had it lifted by crane and then transported by flatbed truck.
They also opted for an environmentally friendly sod roof, which, says their architect, KRADS founding partner Kristján Eggertsson, is more expensive to build. The packed soil, he says, “filters impurities out of the rain water before it returns to the ground.”
The house is close enough to their main home—a 5,000-square-foot four-bedroom equipped with a recording studio—for a quick day trip, but offers a radical change of scenery.
In the summer, lush moss adds to the area’s otherworldly greenness. “But it’s even more amazing in the wintertime,” says Ms. Dico, when there is more snow than in the coastal region, where they live.
The icy country roads and deep snow can make it difficult to get to, she says, but the family doesn’t hesitate to make the trip to enjoy atmospheric nesting.
When the children are older, Ms. Dico says, she plans to take advantage of their access to Skjaldbreidur—which she calls “the old volcano across the lake”—and take up cross-country skiing and winter hiking.
For now, “We do a lot of sleighing and drinking hot cocoa, while enjoying the view, the peace and the fireplace,” she says.
The couple is busy recording an album—their first since building the holiday house—and they are taking stock of how the new refuge may affect their creativity. Ms. Dico is looking forward to a double-dose of artistic stimulation. She says the drive to the house goes through a typically treeless stretch of landscape, which she likens to being on the moon, then ends at what she describes as the home’s fairy-tale setting. “It’s all just incredibly inspiring,” she says.
Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street Journal, Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: September 29, 2021.
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A heritage-listed Federation estate with tennis court, pool and studio, Marika offers timeless elegance and modern family living in the heart of Hunters Hill.
A grand old dame who has stood the test of time, Marika is a slice of Hunters Hill heritage transformed for modern-day living.
Meticulously renovated between 1981 and 1983, with several updates since, Marika made it onto the heritage register in 1999 just in time to signal a new millennium. Today, the modernised mansion is on the market with an auction price guide of $7.5 million, marketed through BresicWhitney’s Nicholas McEvoy.
“The home is a fantastic opportunity for a discerning buyer to get a grand family estate-style property, with a pool, tennis court and grounds, for a price that’s much more affordable than expected,” McEvoy says.
Sitting pretty on the corner of Augustine St and Ryde Rd, the stately Federation residence occupies a sprawling 2472sq m block, which was once part of a 30-acre land grant handed to Frederick Augustus Hayne in 1835. In 1902, he sold it to Dr Leopold Augustus Carter, a local dentist. Two years later, Marika, then known as “Ryde”, appeared in the famed Sands Directory – the social media of its era – a symbol of its architectural significance.
Surrounded by manicured gardens with sculpted hedges, a pool and full tennis court, Marika is a prime example of Federation style with contemporary elements.
Inside, the single-level five-bedroom home showcases intricate craftsmanship, from its decorative gables, period archways and bay windows to the coloured glass panels on multiple doors and windows. Elegant formal rooms have high ornate ceilings that are a preserved nod to Marika’s past, while the more modern spaces are relaxed family-friendly zones.
Thanks to a pavilion-style addition, the L-shaped layout measures 450sq m internally and wraps around a central courtyard that plays host to the alfresco dining terrace and pool, while a wide veranda frames the original front rooms of the house.
Primary living spaces, including the dining area with integrated bar, open to the great outdoors via stacker doors and the 21st century kitchen has a large island bench and a butler’s pantry with hidden access to the triple lock up garage. There is also a dedicated media room, a library or home office, plus a separate family room with a beautiful bay window.
All bedrooms feature built-ins while the main retreat, and a second bedroom, have shower ensuites. The shared bathroom houses convenient twin vanities and a freestanding bathtub.
Beyond the interiors, Marika delivers resort amenities with a full-sized, floodlit tennis court, the pool, barbecue terrace and a self-contained studio apartment with the added bonus of Harbour Bridge glimpses.
Added extras include a converted loft storage space, a large laundry with side yard access, ducted air conditioning, multiple fireplaces, solar panels with a battery backup and modern insulation.
Accessed via Augustine St, Marika is close to St Joseph’s College, Boronia Park shops, local ovals and city transport.
Marika at 59 Augustine St, Hunters Hill is set to go under the hammer on April 26, on site at 9am with a price guide of $7.5 million. The listing is with Nicholas McEvoy and Narelle Scott of BresicWhitney Hunters Hill.
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