The history of Hlið (Gate)

The earliest sources that document residence on the grounds at Hlið are from the year 1395

Hlið used to be quite populated with many houses and farms. A lot of fishermen huts were out on Melhöfði which is now a flooded skerry south west of Hlið. The huts were poorly heated or not heated at all so staying there must have been quite an ordeal for the fishermen that were often tired cold an wet from fishing in the open rowboats.

A boat heading out to sea

An unknown fisherman

Many great men have lived on the grounds at Hlið. One of them, Jörundur Ólafsson had a fine horse by the name of Skjóni. When Skjóni passed away in 1807, Jörundur buried him in the middle of the field south of Hlið. He wrote a poem about the horse which he carved on the rock that lies on the grave

Around the year 1900 the sea had washed away a part of the cape so for a while it depended on the tides whether or not people could get over to Hlið at all.

There is quite a lot of geothermal heat in the grounds at Hlið. Near the tide line there is a hot spring named Laug. It is likely that sometime in the early thirteenth century writer Snorri Sturluson (who wrote Snorra Edda) bathed there since he owned land in these parts and was one of the entrepreneurs of the Icelandic bathing culture.

Swimming was taught in the cove between the hot spring and the current house in the nineteen forties.

An old drilling hole is to the west of Hlið. The drillers had trouble drilling there so they gave up after a few dozen meters. Story tells it that this came as a great surprise since a farmer at Hlið had met an elf maiden that chose the place of drilling herself. That is why they decided to drill at that location and not in the place where specialists had advised them to.

There are countless stories of elves, ghosts and other beings in the land of Hlið. In the nineteen fifties it was so haunted at the old farmhouse at Hlið that no one dared live there anymore. This two storey stone building stood to the east of the current house.

School swim champions by the sea at Hlið

The old farm at Hlið

The history of Hlið is intertwined with the history of Álftanes. This district is home to the presidential manor which has in the past served as a prison, a place of execution, a falcon house and a house of leisure for writer Snorri Sturluson. The view from Álftanes is magnificent and it had an observatory the eighteenth century

You can look further into the history of Álftanes on the district's home page: http://www.alftanes.is/Files/Skra_0005316.pdf

In the year 1996 our family moved to Hlið. It had then been desolate for quite some time. We renovated the residential building and added a sun room which is now our home restaurant. We are now in the middle of renovating the old boat house which will be turned into a spa.

In 2002 a part of the grounds was declared preserved because of the variety of flora and fauna that is unsurpassed in the vicinity of the capital city.