Jäärja manor is recorded from 1442. Over the centuries it passed through many hands, among them the Mengdens, the Bussens, the Engelhardts and the Gruenewaldts; the last owner before expropriation in 1919 was Johannes von Ungern-Sternberg. The simple one-story timber house was built in the early 1800s.
The house survives, somewhat shorter than originally and altered in other ways too. Several handsome outbuildings, mostly from the 1800s, also survive, such as the arcaded granary and the stable and carriage house; some outbuildings are in ruins.
Owners
von Mengden
von Bussen
von Engelhardt
von Gruenewaldt
von Ungern-Sternberg1919
Good to know
Until the Great Northern War, the center of Saarde parish and its church stood near Jäärja.
The German name of the manor, Saarahof, comes from Saara, the German name of the parish.
In the Middle Ages the parish also took in the area around Raamatu (Ramata), now in Latvia.
