Big plans for small holiday homes – The origins and unique­ness of the mirror cabins

When Esther & Pierre decided to rent out holiday homes in Iceland, it was clear from the start that they wanted very special accom­mod­a­tions. With their stun­ning prop­erty at Ljárskógaströnd, right by the sea, they had an incred­ibly beau­tiful spot to create some­thing extraordinary. The search for a holiday home that would do this loca­tion justice was intensive and took some time. They limited their search to prefab­ric­ated houses (tiny houses) that could be trans­ported to Iceland. Building a house from the ground up in Iceland is diffi­cult for various reasons, and even Icelanders advised them against it.

It was important to them that the house has large windows, high-quality finish, is made of wood, and is fully equipped with a bath­room and kitchen. They traveled during their holi­days to France and Austria, as well as to Norway and Finland, to test some of the holiday homes they were consid­ering. In the end, they liked the prefab­ric­ated house by Olokoto from Finland the most. They were thrilled by the huge mirror-effect glass windows, the rugged walls made of solid wood, the minim­alist Scand­inavian design, and espe­cially the large skylight above the bed. They were convinced that the exterior design would fit perfectly into the wild seaside land­scape, and that the enormous windows would bring the feeling of the surrounding nature into the interior. I actu­ally can confirm this. When I sit in the cabin and look out the window, the birds some­times seem so close, I could eat…, err I could touch them.

Ljárskógaströnd is perfectly suited for watching the Northern Lights in the dark­ness thanks to its secluded loca­tion. People love that, but I prefer howling at the moon. However, Esther & Pierre were keen to have a holiday home with a huge skylight above the bed so that guests could admire the Northern Lights in comfort and warmth. Or if the Northern Lights take their time to appear, you can simply snuggle up under the cozy blanket and keep your eyes on the sky to make sure, you do not miss anything.

The wood for the walls of this mirror house grew slowly in Finland, surrounded by pure nature. It seems no dogs peed on it either. The trees absorbed more carbon dioxide during their life­time than they release at the end of their life cycle. Resin oozes from the walls of the cabin in some spots, which is a result of the solid wood construc­tion and under­scores the high quality. It also brings a touch of nature into the mirror cabin.

The mirror houses were manu­fac­tured in Finland and trans­ported as whole units to West Iceland. The journey began by truck from Oulu in Finland to Aarhus in Denmark, continued by ship to Þorlákshöfn in Iceland, and finally came by truck to Búðardalur. At the site at Ljárskógaströnd, they were placed on the previ­ously laid found­a­tions using a crane.

Due to delays in trans­port­a­tion, the holiday homes arrived in Búðardalur after sunset and in the dark­ness, making unloading extremely diffi­cult. Suddenly, heavy rain and strong winds set in, forcing the work to be inter­rupted and not completed until two days later. I was still sleeping in my mother's tummy at that time, but from what I have been told, Esther and Pierre were quite stressed and worried that some­thing might get damaged - espe­cially the mirrored glass. Fortu­nately, that did not happen, and now they are both over­joyed that the mirror houses are in place, connected to elec­tri­city and water, and looking fant­astic. All the effort and stress were defin­itely worth it.

Sif
Head of Enter­tain­ment
Mystic Light Lodge