Höfði House

Höfði is a white timber house standing on a lawn by the sea on the north side of Reykjavik, and it is best known as the place where the Cold War took a decisive turn. In 1986 the American president Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met here for the Reykjavik Summit. The talks ended without an agreement and were seen as a failure at the time, but they are now widely regarded as an important step towards the arms reduction treaties that followed and the end of the Cold War.

The house itself is much older than the summit. It was built in 1909 in the Jugendstil style, prefabricated in Norway and shipped to Iceland, for the French consul Jean-Paul Brillouin. The poet Einar Benediktsson lived here from 1913 to 1925, and in the 1940s and 1950s it housed the British Embassy. The City of Reykjavik has owned it since 1958 and uses it for formal receptions and official occasions. A fire damaged the house on its hundredth birthday in September 2009, but the irreplaceable items inside were saved and the building was restored. Höfði also has a ghost story attached to it, and the Icelandic Foreign Ministry once said it would neither confirm nor deny that the house is haunted.

Because Höfði is used for official functions, it is not generally open to the public, so most visitors see it from the outside. The setting is the attraction: a simple, elegant house against the sea. Inside, the American and Soviet flags are hung crossed to commemorate the summit, though few visitors get to see them.

The house suits history enthusiasts, anyone interested in the Cold War and walkers on the seafront path. A visit takes 15 to 20 minutes, so it is best combined with a walk. Early morning and evening light are good for photographs.

If you want to understand the summit in more depth, read a little about the 1986 talks before you go, as there is not much to see beyond the house itself. Photographers should note that the house faces the sea, so the light changes quickly with the weather. In winter, wrap up well, as the open lawn and seafront can be very exposed to wind.

Höfði is on Félagstún, just off Borgartún and the coastal road Sæbraut, about 25 minutes' walk east of the centre. The seafront path between Harpa and Höfði passes the Sun Voyager sculpture, so the three make an easy walk together.