History
♦ When the Saku Manor was formed is not exactly known. The old name of Saku was actually Kaia. According to a folk legend, the manor was supposed to have been located on a high hill in the middle of a blog. The new owner did not like the poor lands and boggy pastures; he found a better place from the lower course of the river and built his manor there. The manor was named SACK after its owner, but the peasants hanged the name by adding a „u“. Kaia later became the village of Kajamaa.
♦ The subsequent events are confirmed by historical documents: in 1513, the Todwens sold the manor to Claus Mekes. There were only few buildings on the manor at the time, which were destroyed in the Livonian War.
♦ In 1608, Johann Mekes sold the manor to Bernhard von Scharenberg, who had a palatial new mansion built, but noti n Saku, but in Sausti. Saku was an auxiliary manor for the Scharenbergs, and besides the main building burned down in 1620.
♦ There was another change in ownership: after Aaspere Hastfers, there were the Schulmanns, and thereafter, in 1733, the manor was bought by Adam Johann Hueck.
♦ The glory days of the manor, however, did not arrive until the Rehbinder era in 1765-1843. Otto Magnus von Rehbinder, who had bought the manor, was one of the richest peole in Estonia. The Rehbinders stood out with their dissipated lifestyle and large staff of servants. Grandfather’s excesses were continued by Paul Eduard von Rehbinder, who had inherited the manor from his father Karl Friedrich. Paul Eduard also built the current palatial manor house.
♦ However, the extravagant lifestyle swallowed his savings, and in 1843, he sold the manor to Rudolf von Patkul for 92,500 silver rubles. After seven years, Patkul sold the mansion at large profit to Karl von Baggenhufwudt. His son Valerio, who was the last owner of the manor, was a talented businessman. He expanded the small brewery, established by Karl Friedrich von Rehbinder in 1820, into a large company by 1909-1910.
♦ The Saku manor house is among the best examples of classicistic architecture in Estonia. It is thought that the building was designed by one of the most famous architects of the periood – Carlo Rossi.
♦ During the first Estonian Republic, the Saku Home Economics School was located in the manor, and later the Uuemõisa Agricultural School and the Saku Technical School operated here. During the Technical School tenancy , the parquet was replaced with plank flooring, the ceiling and wall paintings were painted over, and valuable stoves and fireplaces were destroyed. In 1960, the building was given to the Estonian Research Institute of Agriculture, and thereafter, the first thorough restoration took place.
♦ In 2002, the manor was rented by Saku Maja Ltd., who restored the building a second time. On November 1, 2002, a renewed Saku Manor was olened as a recreational and conference Enter. Seminar rooms and banquet halls are rented, and accommodations are offered. A pub and two saunas are located in the basement.
