While walking around Tallinn I noticed there are some unusual houses that stick out of the surrounding architecture. Noticeably there are some wooden houses that resembles those found in a typical Estonian village except the fact that for some reasons they ended up being in the middle of Tallinn. I assume they come from the age when some city districts were still a tiny villages and likely are more than a century old. I am wondering what is the story behind them and how did they survive the fate of redevelopment because I can imagine that land is rather expensive in Tallinn (just like the apartments) and there are always someone who would like such a house being demolished to make a place for a new project.

[This one](https://www.google.com/maps/@59.4288749,24.7048044,3a,75y,167.48h,91.97t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sA6vY61GaCipx0uFhgC4rzw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) despite being shabby looks rather grandiose for a simple village house. Probably it was build by a rich family. Being squeezed between the two modern glass high-rises it reminds me somewhat the Little family house in New York from the “Stuart Little” old family movie.

Then there’s a [this little house](https://www.google.com/maps/@59.4269723,24.8188534,3a,75y,25.08h,80.41t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sL64ZMTQfxB1JVNG-tDx4ZA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192) that looks rather well kept but its location still remains quite unusual.

There are also some examples around Kalamaja like [here](https://www.google.com/maps/@59.4438784,24.7230467,3a,75y,249.22h,80.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sDH6VoPukrBSPB2ABd1VxSw!2e0!5s20190601T000000!7i13312!8i6656) that still sticks out from the typical style of Kalamaja. And finally [this complex](https://www.google.com/maps/@59.4422531,24.7433699,3a,75y,77.81h,85.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbVrZrDEup8I5mTbvYoTtYA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) found near Balti Jaam that feels like an old farm that found its place next to the Old Town.

I personally find them quite interesting giving a great character to the city and its surroundings. If there are also other similar houses that I didn’t mention there I would like to hear about them too 🙂

9 comments

  1. Builded before WW2. But they are disappearing, developers are buying them and building apartment houses. If you see new houses, something similar was there before. It can be, that some old lady lives there and do not agree to sell. Or one apartment owner has moved away from Estonia and there is no contact. Then gov do not agree to demolish, even if house is beyond repair.

  2. These houses are remnants. You are correct in your assumption. Some of these houses used to be outside Tallinn. Some of these villages still exist inside Tallinn, [like this](https://www.google.com/maps/@59.401708,24.7220219,3a,75y,229.73h,90.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smbQFQIF-1MwLujwhyh9DCw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656).

    Some are random, [this one was probably a farmhouse](https://www.google.com/maps/@59.4117899,24.6629756,3a,75y,63.46h,96.25t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4Ofyf18G1tVgdk3Pt8-8hQ!2e0!5s20190601T000000!7i13312!8i6656), before the city grew around it.

    I think the last two houses you mention are railroad houses, that’s why they are so small and next to what used to be a railroad.

    Kalamaja used to be all like this. And it’s mostly intact, you will see a lot of more wooden houses in Kalamaja if you explore it more.

    Another old wooden house district is [Nõmme](https://www.google.com/maps/@59.3842586,24.6883789,3a,75y,53.99h,95.8t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sebjVJ0XdVhYZd6RY02UmjQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656), which used to be a separate town.

  3. If they look like they belong to a village, that’s exactly where they were built. For example the first one was a summer manor. Now, the city has expanded and filled all the empty space around them.

    Most of those old houses are historical sites and under protection. The register is here (with a link to specific house) – [https://register.muinas.ee/public.php?menuID=architecture&action=view&id=2238](https://register.muinas.ee/public.php?menuID=architecture&action=view&id=2238)

  5. They’re not necessarily village-style houses, 1, 3 and 4 just represent what houses in and around Tallinn used to look like a century ago; 1 might have originally been a summer house or a villa of some wealthy urban type, located away from town centre in a greener area (there are similar ones in Kadriorg), I believe it has lost a garden to expanding roads. Based on locations, 3 and 4 are housing for railway workers around Balti jaam. Example 2 however might actually have been a village house, as there used to be several leftovers like that around Lasnamäe. These village houses just out of town sometimes survived WWII and subsequent urban development (they probably had steady owners who just didn’t want to move, even when the fields filled up with factories and apartment blocks). There are still traces of a number of them, with trees in the gardens surviving longer than houses themselves.

  6. First one the “shabby”  is in Kristiine district. In the 17th century there was a conflict for these lands between the nobility of the upper town (Toompea), and the craftsmen and traders of the lower town, (old town). Delegation of the Queen of Sweden Christina came and divided the area into properties. The area became known as Christinenthal. These properties now belonged to the rich of the town, and they used them to graze their farm animals there. Over time they started to build their summerhouses there also. The shabby is known as Wittenhof summer manor, as in 1737 bürgermeister Jürgen Witte bought the property. Later in the 19th century there was a restorant and spa “Cap de bonne Esperance” there. In Soviet times it got divided into small apartments.

    The second one is in Ülemiste, this area has been industrial from the middle ages. This one is a little bit outside, so maybe some old farmhouse was there. The house itself does not look as old. The city itself did not expand this direction until Soviet times. Many of the neighbourhoods like Mustakivi, Priisle, Seli are names of the farmsteads on whose lands they were built.

    The third is a remnant of some older layer before the 19th century developments. Kalamaja has been since medieval times the suburb of Tallinn. Tallinn used to have more of these kind of wooden slums, but most of it burned down in the Soviet 1944 March bombings. About 30% of the city got destroyed.

    Last one is typical of the end of 19th century railroad architecture. Many of the train stations around Estonia are built in the same classical style. Probably had some railroad function. Built before WWI.

  8. One thing not mentioned yet is the fact that Soviet Union mostly didn’t care one bit what district or which types of houses were anywhere and just built their own concrete mega structures and housing complexes randomly where they wanted. That process mixed up a lot of old districts and historic houses. Lovely wooden summer villas from a few hundred years ago ended up next to USSR industrial areas, completely ruining the scene etc.

    Also some areas were destroyed during Soviet bombing as well. Leaving solo buildings left where there used to be a street full of similar houses.

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