Pikva was an outlying farm in the early 1700s and became an independent manor in 1858, when it belonged with Alavere to the von Ungern-Sternbergs. The Historicist house was finished in 1850, single-story at the ends and two-story in the middle. From 1920 to 1972 it housed a school. From 1998, for more than 20 years, the manor belonged to the Finn Mika Orava, former chair of the Estonian Heritage Round Table.
Ceiling paintings survive in the foyer, hall and salon, restored with help from art students; the rescued St. Michael’s chapel of Pikva now stands at the manor.
Owners
von Ungern-Sternberg19. saj–1875
von Stackelberg1875–1887
Turmann1887–1919
Good to know
Pikva became an independent manor in 1858.
The house has three stoves said to have been covered by 13 layers of paint.
Mika Orava led the rescue of Pikva’s St. Michael’s chapel from demolition.
