At Ásgarðsvegur 1, where the restaurant Naustið is situated nowadays, is a very special decoration on display in summer time. The bathtub that serves as flower pot is not just any old bathtub- it is the first bathtub that came to Húsavík.
As it is common with old buildings in Iceland, the house has a name and this one is called Sel. It was erected in 1930 by the couple Sveinbjörn Guðjohnsen and his wife Guðrún Hallgerður Eyjólfsdóttir and it was the first house in town designed with a bathroom including a bathtub. Sveinbjörn got to know this kind of luxury while living abroad for several years and decided that he wanted such comfort also at home.
Legend has it that other important inhabitants in Húsavík visited the family before festive days to take a bath and prepare for celebration. At that time water closets were also not common around town and another luxury item. throughout the years more and more houses were upgraded with modern bathrooms so the story of the first bathtub was almost forgotten until Naustið was renovated a view years ago. Since then the bathtub serves a new purpose again with fresh flowery scent- this time from real flowers, not from soap.