I’ve stayed in so many Airbnbs over the past decade—upwards of 150, including an off-grid Earthship Biotecture in New Mexico and a barebones treehouse in rural Sri Lanka—you might just call me a super-user. I’ve met fascinating Airbnb hosts from all over the world along the way but none who have embraced unfettered hospitality quite like fifth-generation sheep farmer Harriet Olafsdóttir av Gørðum and her husband John, co-owners of Hanusarstova, a thoughtful little bed & breakfast in the Faroe Islands.
My husband and I spent a week road-tripping around the remote North Atlantic archipelago in June. It was technically our honeymoon, although with our mercurial 16-month-old son, Julian, in tow, it would more accurately be called a “familymoon.” After two indulgent nights at the four-star Hotel Føroyar in the Faroese capital of Tórshavn, we switched to stand-alone rentals with kitchens and more room for an on-the-move toddler.
A flock of black, white, and brown sheep and goats graze the grass between the property and the ocean.
The reasons we chose the Faroe Islands for Julian’s first transatlantic trip were many, starting with the fact that they’re gobsmackingly beautiful—like Iceland without all the tourists. The 18 windswept volcanic isles, of which we visited seven, are home to thundering waterfalls, turf-roofed churches, black-sand beaches, thrilling hiking trails, protected puffin colonies, and more sheep than people (70,000 of them, in fact). Our family loves nature and animals, and both were top of mind on our daily outings. This is also what led us to Hanusarstova.
In addition to raising sheep, Harriet is a talented photographer who has built a cult following on Instagram for posting pictures of her ewes and rams wearing floral crowns she makes herself. These Insta-famous woolies are so popular, in fact, some of her Airbnb guests are starstruck when they finally meet them in the flesh.
A pony with a wild mane gallops past the sea.
The farmhouse has one bedroom and two stories.
Harriet and John’s 125-year-old farmhouse is the second oldest home in the wee village of Æðuvík (population: 103), just a 20-minute drive from Tórshavn. It’s also a homesteader’s dream: They grow potatoes, herbs, and rhubarb; collect eggs with bright orange yolks from a chicken coop in their backyard; and pluck wild thyme from the nearby mountainside. The couple, both in their thirties, has been hosting travelers for heimablídni, or private in-home dinners, for about seven years but didn’t open their standalone one-bedroom, one-bath guesthouse until last summer. Harriet’s animal portraits fill an all-white gallery wall in the rental, their drama further accentuated by high ceilings, Ukrainian birch wood, and minimalist
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