The guide takes guests to all the main houses of the museum and tells their story. Árbær was an established farm well into the 20th century, and the museum opened there in 1957. Árbær is now an open-air museum with more than 20 buildings which form a town square, a village and a farm. Most of the buildings have been relocated from central Reykjavik. The Museum seeks to give an idea of architecture and way of life in Reykjavik in the 19th and 20th centuries. Each house contains either an independent historical exhibition or a typical home from a specific period. The museum also houses old-fashioned workshops of typical facilities, technology and tools.