Dozens of manors and several castles in Estonia are waiting for new owners

The status of estates for sale varies: some are protected by heritage, others are not.

In addition, I also read the news Calvi Estate for sale There are several other manor buildings, among which are two castles – Sangaste and Laitse.

For example, you can buy the Kehtna estate for €699,000, the Kudina estate for €721,000 and the Rava estate for €590,000. Same price You can get a 100 m2 apartment in a new development in the center of Tallinn.

The manor buildings that needed renovation were much cheaper: Vaeküla manor cost 29,900 euros, Kirimäe manor cost 85,000 euros, while the Luutsnik manor complex, which required extensive renovation, cost 199,000 euros.

Among the most famous estates, the Põhjaka estate is for sale (priced at 198,000 euros), where a popular restaurant operates.

The most expensive one is the Château de Sangaster – it costs 2,600,000 euros.

Some estates have had sale notices listed on real estate portals for years.

“Luxury homes are harder to sell because they are unique items and there are always fewer buyers for them than for generic items like apartments,” explains real estate analyst Tõnu Toompark.

“In the case of the manor, it’s a historic relic and that comes with heritage restrictions, and if you have to do any repairs under the regulations, it’s very expensive. Owning a manor is an expensive thing. “A fan’s hobby,” Toompark said.

“If a man wants to buy himself an estate, he’s buying himself a lot of obligations and troubles. But there are people like that,” Tumpack added.

In Toompark’s view, there are several reasons for selling the already renovated estate: either the owner has run out of money because his other business has dried up, or he is no longer at the age where he wants to be so active.

“Real estate can still be bought and sold,” Tumpark said.

Heritage Conservation Committee: Estates need resources

The number of manor complexes that are transferred from one private hand to another and sold as architectural monuments is not monitored by the Heritage Protection Board, which is responsible for the good management of Estonia’s architectural heritage.

“The Heritage Council does not keep statistics on architectural monuments for sale, including estate buildings, as the council is not authorised to hold such information. We also get information from property portals or when owners share it,” Anita Staub, head of the council’s architectural heritage department, told ERR.

When it comes to the estate’s renovation, Staub emphasized fidelity to the period.

“There are many different manor buildings under protection in Estonia, and they reflect all architectural styles from different eras. Therefore, when carrying out the works it was important to preserve the architectural solutions of the manor buildings with valuable details and structures,” said Staab.

Staab admits that it may seem difficult to do at first glance, as it does require more resources than regular construction.

“Nevertheless, there are many good examples of manor houses in Estonia that have been put back into use thanks to the enthusiasm of the owners, and the architectural solutions and culturally valuable details of the buildings have been preserved,” said Staub.

He cited the main buildings of the Anijya estate and the Viljandi estate as examples, both of which have been revived in recent years. There are also many other gems of estate architecture, such as the Rispere estate.

“During and after the coronavirus pandemic, we have noticed a greater interest than before in ancillary buildings on estates, creating new functions for these buildings,” said Staab.

Manor seller: “Renovation prices have risen”

“We are selling because we can’t afford it,” said a resident of Kastre municipality in Tartu county. Destroy the manor The seller was represented by Indrek Alberg.

“There are a lot of carvings and the labor is expensive, and we no longer have the financial means. We had an estimate of the cost, but when we bought the estate six or seven years ago, it was worse, but the price of maintenance work was cheaper, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the maintenance costs are much more expensive,” Ahlberg said. “We misjudged the quantity.”

“We’ve stopped the estate from falling apart,” Alberg said. “And it’s not a very big estate – some people have houses bigger than this one.”

The estate has been on the market for several months at €179,000 and during that time there has been one interested party.

According to Alberg, the owner of the manor, he did not seek support from EAS for the renovation of the manor. “The owner of the manor is a foreigner. In order to get support, you must also have a business plan, and if you are wrong about some points of the contract, then the support can be withdrawn at any time,” Alberg added.

The estate is not protected by heritage, so the owners do not rely on the support of the heritage protection committee. “The estate is a Soviet-era apartment, and the inside is like a Soviet-era board house. Later, the house also lost its heritage protection value,” said Ahlberg.

The façade of the manor, built in 1900, has been preserved, and the previous owner restored the cornices and other details.

“When we bought the estate, the roof was leaking and water was flowing into the basement. Now the estate is in a state where it will not collapse again,” Alberg said.

Oti Manor owner: I want to buy cheap

Viljar Rei, an entrepreneur from Saaremaa, is selling the Oti estate in his hometown for 1 million euros.

“We’re selling the estate because maybe someone knows how to bring the house back to life. We can’t make an Excel sheet like this to make the estate run economically,” Rei said.

Viljar Rei’s company, Kingli Kinnisvara OÜ, bought the estate in 2016. The previous owner, an American expatriate, sold the estate a decade ago.

“We became the owners of Ott Estate because the previous owner was forced. I am from this area myself and I have seen how other estates here died. We warm and maintain Ott Estate with heart and love. The estate is preserved, warmed and preserved, which is why we also sell it at a very cheap price,” said Rei.

Sales started in 2022 at 1.3 million euros, and now the price has dropped. “The fact that the price of the estate has been reduced by 300,000 euros is not decisive. With the new price range, the buyer’s point of view has been completely silenced. Those who were interested left at 1.3 million euros,” said Ray.

“If we reduce the price to half, we will sell the estate, but we don’t see the prospect of selling it cheaper than the price of a flat in Odisha,” said Ray, who sees the estate as a suitable residence for wealthy people.

Rey and his business partner will not come down on the price, also because, in the context of the sale, they are also considering doing something for themselves and the estate.

“It’s for sale, but from our point of view it shouldn’t be sold. We don’t want to get rid of it so frantically. We see that rural areas in Saaremaa are becoming more and more popular with tourists – they are young people growing up here, looking for peace and tranquility, and maybe one day they will want to do something on the estate,” Rei said.

Rei said their core activities among other businesses require enough energy to handle tourism.

“It’s a Stahano-esque move for the islanders to restore the estate, but it doesn’t make sense. I’m 42 now and at this stage in my life, money needs to be earned, not invested in a stone wall,” Ray said.

Rei has not applied for state funding for the renovation of the manor. “You can put $1.5 million into making the house beautiful. But just making the house beautiful is a waste of money for all parties involved,” Rei said.

Rei said subsidies for renovations were also given out in small amounts, making the process long and tiring.

“If there is such a round, where one million and five hundred thousand is given directly, and you add the same amount yourself, then repairing the manor will not be a problem. But as far as I know, there is no such round.” Lei said.

In the grant round for the restoration, conservation and maintenance of monuments and buildings in heritage protected areas, which was opened by the Heritage Conservation Council on August 1, the minimum grant amount will be 200 euros, while the maximum grant amount will be increased to 100,000 euros for the restoration and conservation of buildings and to 20,000 euros in other cases.