Jólahúsin í ár eru ekki af verri endanum.
Ljósmynd/Samsett
Few things feel as festive as elaborate Christmas decorations. People across the country compete to dress their homes in Christmas finery, often aiming to outdo the previous year. “This takes several weekends,” says one interviewee who goes all out every year.
Santa Clauses, Christmas elves and all manner of holiday figures now adorn homes around Iceland, making it the perfect time, in keeping with tradition, to set out on a festive viewing tour.
Photographers from mbl.is went out into the field, and a reporter compiled a selection of some of the most spectacular houses this year.
Furuvellir 19
The Christmas decorations at Furuvellir 19 in Hafnarfjörður have delighted visitors for many years. Everything is pulled out all the stops each time, and this year is no exception.
Linda Sveinsdóttir, one of the homeowners and the chief decorator at Furuvellir 19, was interviewed. Linda has always been a huge Christmas enthusiast and says it has, if anything, intensified over the years.
“We’ve been doing this since we moved into the house in 2004, and we add more every year. We always start decorating right after Halloween
— we take down the Halloween decorations and gradually begin putting up the Christmas ones. It definitely takes several weekends,” Sveinsd
óttir says.
She says the decorating bug hasn’t quite rubbed off on her children, but her grandchild is fully involved.
“Our grandchild is very into this
— he’s worse than we are. He’s been helping and is in strict training,” she says.
According to Sveinsd
óttir, Furuvellir 13
–25 has received recognition as the best-decorated street in Hafnarfj
örður every year since the award was established, suggesting that the neighbours are very much in sync when it comes to celebrating Christmas.
“At least no one has complained,” she says with a laugh.
Asked whether the electricity bill skyrockets because of the decorations, she says she doesn’t worry about it.
“I have no idea
— my husband takes care of paying it and I don’t get involved,” she says.
She adds that many passers-by make a special trip to see the house.
“Yes, we definitely notice that. People coming to look is part of it, of course. But we’re mainly doing this for ourselves because we enjoy it so much. Still, it’s wonderful that people enjoy the decorations. I love it when people knock on the door to tell us how pleased they are,” says Linda Sveinsd
óttir.
Vættaborgir 74
Vættaborgir 74 in Grafarvogur has earned well-deserved attention from local residents.
Múlalind
In recent years, there has been strong community spirit around Christmas decorations among residents of Múlalind in Kópavogur. Unconfirmed rumours even suggest that the street may be visible from outer space during the holidays.
Reykjanesvegur 10
Njarðvík resident Davíð Örn Þráinsson, who lives at Reykjanesvegur 10, says he isn’t particularly a Christmas person.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m a big Christmas enthusiast,” says Þráinsson, who has been preparing the Christmas decorations on his house in Njarðvík since January.
He has programmed around 50,000 Christmas light bulbs, which now flash every evening in sync with Christmas music that passers-by can listen to on a specific radio frequency near the house.
The inspiration for the project was the ever-popular holiday film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, in which family man Clark Griswold lights up his house with 25,000 Italian Christmas bulbs.
Þráinsson has already doubled Griswold’s bulb count and plans to add even more in the coming years.