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Manors were central buildings in an administrative and economic system that was used in Estonia for centuries – every manor estate building comes with administrative and economic buildings surrounding it and vast quantities of land. So a common manor complex would surely have a granary barn and a horse stable, but mostly also a vodka kitchen, beer brewery, cattle barn or other types of buildings used for economic endeavors as well as social gatherings.

Maidla Manor was originally built as a fortification building with an unknown founding date. The earliest mention of the manor dates back to 1452.

Many landlords from different noble families have ruled Maidla Manor throughout centuries. Dönhoff, Varensbeke, Taube, Bellingshausen, Rehbinder, Fersen, Kusell and Maydell family have all been ruling over these lands throughout the years. While Maydell family is mostly known as German, some rumours even say that the family has actually Estonian roots, which would be very uncommon for the times.

Of course, an area with such a long history comes with its own legends, stories and mysteries. For example, the locals have talked for years that there is an underground tunnel running under the pond that connects the main manor building and the vodka kitchen. During our studies, we found a room in the cellar floor that is not connected with other rooms in the cellar. And yes, of course we have ghost stories.

In 1919 the young republic of Estonia nationalized manor from Joseph von Maydell. Later, the Maidla manor belonged to the Danish colonel Borgelin, who participated in the War of Independence, and after that to Karl Selter, the foreign minister of the Republic of Estonia.

Since 1950, an orphanage operated in the manor. It closed its doors in 2012. Most of what we see today in the main building is the reconstruction done for the orphanage in Soviet times. They ran the manor for a strong 62 years, offered work for the whole village and left plenty of memories behind.

Since 2012 the manor was left to the state, but unfortunately without any heating, care or love.

Seven years of silence for this beautiful place was about to change in 2019.

How the forgotten Maidla Manor complex is being reborn into Maidla Nature Resort.

The starting point of this massive project was in 2019 when we bought this manor complex in search of something special. Having travelled the globe in search of unique experiences and sites, we realized we have something in Estonia we should honour a lot more – the simplicity of pure raw nature alongside authentic manor culture.

Startuppers (read: crazy people) by heart, we first bought the manor and then started the ideation process of figuring out how to show our treasures more widely.

Estonia is called a thousand manor land – a few hundred of these complexes have survived the centuries and have been restored all over Estonia. Our goal though has never been to renovate the manor entirely but to show you layers of history and change that the complex has seen over the years. But how it will go, the future will show.

PS. Did you know that Maidla is one of the most popular manor names in Estonia? Indeed, there are 5 Maidla Manors, so be mindful to look up the right one in Raplamaa when visiting us.

So how were the brand, Maidla Nature Resort, and our first Nature Villa, born?

Between the manor complex and Keila river, there is a wet area which is called the “beaver land” (even on the map). Why? Years ago there used to be a beautiful forest, but as the beavers are unusually active in this area, they’ve built very many dams on the river. This lead to the land flooding, which has led to the extinction of the forest and left only a handful of small and weak birch trees. Of course, the first idea was to make the beavers move, restore the woods and get beautiful access to the river. But then when walking on that beaver land, we started to see a different kind of beauty in it. The rough landscape has been shaped by nature itself, creating a 5th season of floods. Why fight it? What if we would embrace the beauty and build a tiny house there which would allow for everyone to witness the processes of nature. And so Nature Villa idea was born.

We are at the very beginning of creating a unique place that connects the old and new in an innovative way.

Maidla Nature Resort is the roof name for the new brand. The Resort covers the old precious Maidla Manor complex, around 25 hectares of land and a natural pond, as well as the latest addition in architecture - Nature Villa, where we are delighted to accommodate our first guests from summer 2020. Nature Villa is a place where one could stay in comfort and luxury while being in the middle of nature, enjoying privacy and tranquility.

We value Estonian culture, beautiful nature and architecture. Our mission is to put Estonia on a world map to be known as the best place where to recharge batteries and connect with nature. We do our best to keep on surprising with additional ideas that are born from a tiny team of innovative Estonians.

PS. If you look the photo above and our logo, you may notice the similarity. That's how the manors main building cassette ceiling is used in new form and uniting the old and new. We were lucky as we didn’t have to sit down for weeks to think of a cool design for a logo. This magical pattern can be seen today by everyone visiting the Resort.