Höfði () is a house in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, best known as the location for the 1986

Reykjavík Summit The Reykjavík Summit was a summit meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, held in Reykjavík, Iceland, on 11–12 October 1986. The talks collapsed at the l ...

meeting of President Ronald Reagan of the United States and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union. This meeting was an important step towards ending of the Cold War. Within the building, the flags of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

are cross-hung to commemorate the meeting.

History

The house was built in 1909 and is located at Félagstún. It was initially built for the French

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

Jean-Paul Brillouin in Iceland, and was the exclusive residence of poet and businessman

Einar Benediktsson Einar Benediktsson, often referred to as Einar Ben (31 October 1864 – 12 January 1940) was an Icelandic poet and lawyer. Einar Benediktsson's poetry was a significant contribution to the nationalistic revival which led to Iceland's independenc ...

(1864-1940) for twelve years (1913-1925). From 1925 to 1937 painter Louisa Matthíasdóttir grew up in the house since her family resided there. In the 1940s and 1950s, it was home to the British Embassy in Reykjavík. The city of Reykjavík purchased the house in 1958, and restored it. From then on it has been used for formal receptions and festive occasions. On 25 September 2009, on the building's 100th birthday, Höfði was damaged in a fire. All irreplaceable artifacts were saved. In 2015, Einar Benediktsson's statue, by

Ásmundur Sveinsson Ásmundur Sveinsson (20 May 1893 – 9 December 1982) was an Icelandic sculptor. Early years Ásmundur Sveinsson was born in Kolsstadir in West Iceland on 20 May 1893. In 1915 he moved to Reykjavík where he enrolled in the Technical College of ...

, was moved to a spot near Höfði house.

Construction

The house that shows the influence of Jugendstil was prefabricated in Norway, shipped to Iceland and erected in 1909 for the French Consul, before permission for the house had been granted by the city planning department. At the time of construction it was the largest private estate in the city.

Telecommunications history

Before the house was built, the site was used to make the first radio communications between Iceland and the outside world on 26 June 1905, when contact was made with Poldhu in Cornwall, UK, with a Marconi antenna. The effort was instigated by poet

. The antenna was in use until October 1906.

Local legend

The memoirs of one of the earliest occupants of Höfði state that the house is inhabited by the spirit of a young woman. Accounts vary on who she is but most commonly she is either a suicide or drowning victim. John Greenway, who inhabited the house in 1952, insisted that it be sold and the British consulate moved elsewhere, because of what he called "bumps in the night". He even applied for special permission from the Foreign Office to do so. That same year the house was sold back to the Icelandic government. Popular local legends differ from the accounts of the house's inhabitants; the most popular of which is that the house is a Viking burial site. For this reason locals say the liquor cabinet of the house is frequently raided by spirits. The legend has even gained recognition by the Foreign Ministry who have officially stated that "We do not confirm or deny that the Hofdi has a ghost."

Gallery

File:Hofdi house telecomms plaque reykjavik.JPG, Telecomms commemoration plaque File:President Ronald Reagan says goodbye to Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.jpg, Reagan and Gorbachev greet each other at Höfði File:Gorbachev reagan plaque reykjavik.JPG, Reagan Gorbachev plaque

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofdi Houses in Iceland Houses completed in 1909 Buildings and structures in Reykjavík Diplomatic buildings Cold War sites