Shrovetide

Its the second springish winterweek I use bicycle as a primary vehicle. The gravel and mug roads are smooth to ride and the sky is mostly clear.



Average distance between manor centers in Kosch kirschpiel on bicycle are about a half an hour.



Snow is still thick and dense so you have to stay on road if you are not using snow-shoes.



Main building of hof Habbat - being alienated from miserable (lost) hosts.



On the other side of the road - the roof of the garage craked in last winter, the roof of the storage went by, now.



Actually, there are some real estate property to sell - butlers house of hof Habbat.



And as a typical in middle-estonia, there are lots of households to forget - whole generations of work, sweat and blood - Aru house in the border of hof Habbat and hof Kau. Children of Aru - all gone forever.

Real-estate market in Estonia, heartland

Where in Estonia is real decent place to live? Of course not in towns - biggest one, capital Tallinn is mostly dormitory for factory workers and some over-corrupted ex-communist functionarys, smaller towns have identity and administrative capacity problems. In winters, streets of towns are filled with snow- and icefields, summer-specific urban regions like Pärnu are empty in winters, full of tourists in summer.

Estonian layout of land out of towns is preserved from 17. to 19. century - net of parishes and villages is influenced by emotions and plans of ancient landlords - upper class, made outlaws by Estonian Republic in 1921. Hundreds of classic manor houses are standing still in the middle of most fertile lands, great architecture bearing styles from roman thru baroque to classic and neo-romantism.

If you ask me, where in Estonia is good place to live, I answer with the words of my ex-neighbours granddad: In Virumaa (wirland) is good beer, Harjumaa (Harrien) is poor land, Järvamaa (Jerwen) is good place to live and die. I must say that Lõuna-Harjumaa (South-Harrien) is now better than Järvamaa (Jerwen), but this region can be also read into the areas of Middle-Estonia (Midland).

So in Middle-Estonia, here is everything you need: purity of nature, clean water, quietness, no pollution, infrastructue as in 18. century. So lets see what kind of real estate offers are in Järvamaa (Estonian heartland, Jerwen).

Most overpriced object in historic border of Estland and Livland is Norra manor, with a price tag of 639000 €. Pros for this offer is location between nature reserve of Endla, near are Estonian most powerful springs. Building itself, former schoolhouse, is concrete copy of original. No interior and infrastructure, so you have to pay some millions of € to actually live in there.

If you want to own fully-working land-hotel, you have to buy manor of Eivere (Eyfer) with a price tag of 1.9M €. This former elderly is renovated by finnish building proffessionals, standing in the middle of nowhere this ecclectic house is good bet for Dracula wannabes.

Karinu manor (250 000 €) is poor place for nostalgic soviet time lovers. Renovated in deep communist era, this two-storey limestone house is waiting for better times and interior solutions.

Best estate on sale in heartland-Estonia is Vao manor, also the cheapest (200 000€). This is archaic lair-baltic wooden house, big and mostly renovated with good taste and nature friendly materials. Owned by former agricultural minister of Estonia, this is the best condition manor you can buy in Estonia. Some interior photos are in this post, the ones with paintings on them.