Peat houses in Iceland are centuries old and by using natural insulation such as, peat, grass and moss, the cold and moisture can stay out for a long time.
At some point, however, nature wins out as you can see here.
As far back as the Stone Age, peat was used as a building material throughout northern Europe and the Arctic for thousands of years.In Iceland, these green houses fit seamlessly into the landscape, thanks to a building technique introduced here by Nordic and British settlers between the ninth and 11th centuries - the height of the Viking era. Unlike the coastal and polar regions where these peoples had previously lived, building timber was scarce in Iceland and trees grew slowly. The durable, renewable and widely available peat now became their main building material.
                                
 
                                
                                        Hello and welcome! I am Patricia Hofmeester,  come from Rotterdam and have lived in beautiful Groningen for over forty in years. Have been photographing for at least almost 50 years and recently have been working with digital art as well and really enjoy it.
Hope to find work you like...
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 Two cheetahs run on Etosha savannahPatricia Hofmeester
Two cheetahs run on Etosha savannahPatricia Hofmeester Giraffe drinkingPatricia Hofmeester
Giraffe drinkingPatricia Hofmeester Portrait of a colourful elephant in artistic stylePatricia Hofmeester
Portrait of a colourful elephant in artistic stylePatricia Hofmeester Girl with a pearl earring with cigarette and headphonesPatricia Hofmeester
Girl with a pearl earring with cigarette and headphonesPatricia Hofmeester The girl with the pearl earphonesPatricia Hofmeester
The girl with the pearl earphonesPatricia Hofmeester Copper pans in 18th century kitchenPatricia Hofmeester
Copper pans in 18th century kitchenPatricia Hofmeester Knitting man in PeruPatricia Hofmeester
Knitting man in PeruPatricia Hofmeester Men , women and children on the beach at Oostvoorne in 190Patricia Hofmeester
Men , women and children on the beach at Oostvoorne in 190Patricia Hofmeester Eye in the stormPatricia Hofmeester
Eye in the stormPatricia Hofmeester Cats together on a branch at night looking at starsPatricia Hofmeester
Cats together on a branch at night looking at starsPatricia Hofmeester A cake as a work of artPatricia Hofmeester
A cake as a work of artPatricia Hofmeester Girl with a pearl and a pink balloonPatricia Hofmeester
Girl with a pearl and a pink balloonPatricia Hofmeester Panorama of white tulipsPatricia Hofmeester
Panorama of white tulipsPatricia Hofmeester Girl with the pearl earring with black modern sunglassesPatricia Hofmeester
Girl with the pearl earring with black modern sunglassesPatricia Hofmeester Girl with the pearl earring with pink heart-shaped sunglasses ilPatricia Hofmeester
Girl with the pearl earring with pink heart-shaped sunglasses ilPatricia Hofmeester Green nature in SurinamePatricia Hofmeester
Green nature in SurinamePatricia Hofmeester Temple bar district in DublinPatricia Hofmeester
Temple bar district in DublinPatricia Hofmeester Lots of colourful catsPatricia Hofmeester
Lots of colourful catsPatricia Hofmeester Men in love by the seaPatricia Hofmeester
Men in love by the seaPatricia Hofmeester Beautiful colourful flowers in the fieldPatricia Hofmeester
Beautiful colourful flowers in the fieldPatricia Hofmeester