THE FAMILY
Six generations of the same family have lived in the old house at Vegamotastigur. Davíð Jóhannesson from Stöðlakot bought the house newly built in 1906 for his family, wife Guðrún Skaftadóttir and their children, Skafti and Þórdís Dagbjört then three years old, together with his parents, Jóhannes Oddsson and Salgerður Guðmundsdóttir.
The children bore the names of Guðrún´s parents, Skafti Skaftason blacksmith and Þórdís Klængsdóttir. They lived in Skaftabær where Skólavörðustígur and Bankastræti meet a short distance from Vegamotastigur. Skafti was enthusiastic and knowledgable about medicine and served for a long time assisting the surgeon-general attending with his wife to patients in their home. When Þórdís died her sister, Guðrún Klængsdóttir in Melkot, kept house for him.
Davíð Jóhannesson was foreman at the United shipping company at Reykjavík harbour. His family was from Bústaðir farm where Bústaðakirkja church now stands and he was born there 1861. Back then Bústaðir oddly belonged to Seltjarneshreppur county to the west of Reykjavík. He moved with his parents in 1884 into one of the Stöðlakot stone cottages by Bókhlöðustígur (Library Lane).
Þórdís Dagbjört started a family with her husband Ágúst Benediktsson engineer at Frakkastígur 11 but they moved to her parent‘s house after a few years and lived there with their children. Their eldest, Guðrún Dagný, born in the house, also lived there with her husband, Sverrir Júlíusson economist, and sons.
When Þórdís Dagbjört died in 1998 Guðrún and Sverrir´s eldest son, Trausti Þór, bought the house and lived there with his wife, Dóra Kondrup, and their children, Júlía Margrét, Ólafur Sverrir and stepson, Jóhann Meunier. Dóra died 2006. In addition to this family innumerable tenants have lived in the house including the celebrated painter Jóhannes Kjarval and nobel laureate Halldór Kiljan Laxness. At present Ólafur Sverrir Traustason lives there with tenants but his father lives in London with his wife, Marcella Martinelli-Sverrisson.
