Panoramic views and a grass roof: Step into this idyllic Icelandic sanctuary

Tina Dico and Helgi Jónsson began their romance with southwestern Iceland back when they were still dating. Dico, an acclaimed Danish singer-song writer, would visit Jónsson, an Icelandic musician, in Reykjavík and the couple would take day trips to enjoy the region’s otherworldly nature. “We would always drive to this area, where I spent a lot of time as a kid at my grandparents’ house,” Jónsson says. “One day, we saw this little A-frame situated on the nose of a hillside overlooking the lake and completely fell in love.”

Now married with three children, the couple have manifested their ideal Icelandic getaway in that very spot, overlooking Lake Thingvallavatn. Dico and Jónsson originally intended to renovate the existing house, but soon decided to start from scratch. The cabin was removed by crane and given to a local carpenter – a happy ending for all parties. “We have a video that looks like the film Up when the house flies away,” Jónsson says.

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The new build, a modern structure in harmony with its enchanted surroundings, is a decadent retreat for the entire family, but for Dico, who moved to Iceland about a decade ago, the home is particularly exotic. “Even if it’s only a 45 minute drive from our place in Reykjavík, it still feels like such an incredible luxury to have a place in nature,” she says, noting that, when she was growing up, her family favoured camping to a summer house.

An indie artist whose guitar-led sound draws inspiration from folk heroes like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, Dico has been a celebrated artist throughout Europe since her third album, In the Red, reached number one in Denmark in 2005. Even though she has called Iceland home for quite some time, the landscape still enthrals her. “Denmark, as you know, is flat,” she says. “The nature in Iceland is so powerful and peaceful, but then, you always have this feeling that right under the surface, it’s literally boiling.”

Dico is not exaggerating about the impact of her home’s surroundings. Thingvallavatn is Iceland’s deepest lake, filled with Arctic Char and rich viking lore. On the north shoreline sits Thingvellir National Park, home of Althinging, the world’s first parliament, not to mention breathtaking water falls, lively geysers, dramatic rock cliffs, and a rift valley where two tectonic plates split. “It’s slightly surreal to have this much nature and history this close to Reykjavík,” says Jónsson.

A talented musician in his own right, Jónsson has been touring with his wife as part of her accompanying orchestra for over a decade. The duo often perform duets together. Given the mythical environment, the couple wanted to create a modern home that was at once powerful and calming. To do so, they enlisted their friend Kristján Eggertsson of KRADS, an Icelandic architecture firm whose portfolio includes a Reykjavík residence for a member of the Rothschild family and a tourist-friendly viewing platform at Súgandisey in Stykkishólmur.

“We didn’t want to do anything that was crazy or huge,” says Dico. “I just thought we would build a beautiful wooden house with big windows.” The initial designs that KRADS came back with proposed something altogether more ambitious. “They took it somewhere else. The flow of the design was more playful than what we originally envisioned. We were inspired and thought, ‘let’s have some fun’,” she says. “Kristján put so much love into this project and nailed it,” agrees Jónsson, who for his part requested the design respect the existing landscape, trees and topography that nestle the property.

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“Icelandic nature is generally quite barren, therefore large trees and bushes are precious and there were a lot on the site,” Eggertsson tells me. “By angling the house carefully, we were able to leave most of the oldest pine trees untouched along with most of the lower vegetation that envelops the house.” The architect suggested a mossy turf roof planted with local grass, which can also be used as additional outdoor space and a killer lookout point towards Skjaldbreið mountain. It also serves as a pleasant feature for the neighbouring houses further up the hill. “As seen from the houses above, the building almost becomes one with the landscape,” Eggertsson says.

Inside the split-level home, large windows provide panoramic views of the freshwater and woods. Their decision to place the second-floor primary bedroom soaring over the lake has proven less conducive to slumber than expected. “It’s not necessarily the best place to sleep in the house. In summer, the sun is up in the middle of the night, hammering through the window,” says Dico. Thank goodness for blinds.

While architects typically suggest generous pours of concrete for interior finishes (especially in Iceland, where building materials are not abundant), Dico and Jónsson say they were adamant the home be made primarily of wood – inside and out. It was no easy task importing and installing lye-treated douglas fir floors from Denmark’s Dinesen, whose raw, unlacquered woods can also be seen at the famed restaurant Noma. Full-length Pur Natur planks from Germany’s Black Forest were selected for larger floors, ceilings and walls, creating a seamless effect that will gradually patina. “You cannot destroy its charm. It gets more beautiful with age,” says Dico. As for the exterior, durable bandsaw cladding from Scotland’s Russ wood was stained pitch black for a sleek contrast.

The project took five years to complete, with Dico’s father (a professional carpenter) and Jónsson’s dad (a skilled woodworker) chipping in along the way. “We had almost three kids during the building of this house and were touring our music,” says Dico. Describing the process, Jónsson says the eked-out pace best served the end result. “I’m really glad we took our time to figure every last detail out and get it right.” It also enabled them to pick up elements from their travels. For the noir-countered kitchen, Dico found a cabinetry specialist when she was back in her hometown of Aarhus who specialised in oak. “I had no idea there would be a really cool kitchen builder right next to the church where I was christened,” she says.

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The swankiest space in the home has got to be the 1970s-style sunken sitting room, complete with built-ins and caramelised leather seating. The Norr11 Samurai chair is Jónsson’s prefer red spot to take his gin and tonic at sundown. Adjacent is the pièce de résistance: what appears to be a monolithic stone daybed set atop a raised platform is actually a large soaking tub with a removable pillow cover. “That idea came because coming together in hot or cold water is such a big part of the culture here and usually it’s outside,” says Dico. “But I thought it’s a shame to have a beautiful house like this and not have a bathtub. And it’s central, so you can watch over everyone.” Naturally, it’s the children who use the tub most these days, splashing about or converting it into a kid cave when drained, curling up inside with wool blankets and stuffed animals.

Dico sourced the timeless and tasteful chairs, cushy sofas, and the oak dining table from back home, in Denmark. Beds were custom built from repurposed flooring off-cuts from construction. “As I’m getting older, I’m pulled towards these classics,” she says. “My kids are not going to throw it out, they’re going to use it as well. These are things you carry for life.” That said, she has resisted some of her country’s more iconoclastic contributions to mid-century furniture design. “In a way those pieces have too much of a persona,” she says. “We’re in the middle of nature. I don’t really need a chair with some huge story, that takes up a lot of space and is like, ‘Look at me, I was designed by someone’. That’s not the vibe that I’ve been wanting for this place.”

Speaking of vibes, both musicians attest the house also has dreamy acoustics. “It has such a soft, diffused, beautiful sound, because of its high ceilings and there’s no parallel walls,” says Jónsson. “It’s really inviting to do projects here.” For Dico, it’s the remote locale that makes it such an inviting place to work. “Creatively, it’s a place that we can go and have this silence and to delve inward,” she says. “As a writer and in making music, this should be at the very core of what we do – to take the time to think and listen and digest.”

Dico’s currently working on writing her next album, and sneaking off to the house when she can. “Just the drive is such a great way to listen to a few things and then to be out there alone. That’s really a luxury. It’s quite difficult to get stuff written otherwise in everyday life.” Her latest project is rather unconventionally powered by her social media followers, who are contributing to her writing process. “I’ve done it a few times before as a little gimmick you could say, but every time it’s been incredibly moving. People really engage and share,” she says. “I’ve released 12 albums now and writing songs has always been a lonely process. This time, I decided to try something different and bring people in. I want to see if the house can make it all come together.”