Tallinn lists threatened wooden house for sale with preservation required

Tallinn has put the Sakala 14 property up for sale for a starting price of 788,000 euros, ERR reported. The property includes one of the few grander wooden bourgeois residences still preserved in the city centre, and the sale conditions require the building to be retained and restored.

The city’s transport department proposed demolishing the house in 2018 because it stood closer to the street than newer buildings on Sakala Street. Its position left the street nearly four metres narrower than elsewhere, preventing the construction of wider pavements and cycle paths.

The plan also envisaged adding greenery and alternating trees with parking spaces. However, the National Heritage Board opposed the demolition because the house is the last surviving older wooden building on the street.

After the issue remained unresolved, Tallinn City Council decided in June to sell the property together with the building. The Central Tallinn District Government, which holds the property on its balance sheet, said the building was in poor technical condition and had required spending for several years only to preserve it.

“The building is in poor condition and requires major renovation investments,” the council decision said.

Tallinn communications manager Irina Kuzina told ERR that the roof had leaked, some wooden structures had rotted, plaster was crumbling from the plinth and the windows also needed repair. She said the building required a complete renovation.

Kuzina said reports on social media that the house was facing demolition were incorrect. The sale notice clearly requires the building to be preserved, and no demolition decision has been made, she said. Any future use will be decided by the new owner, who must comply with applicable laws and restrictions on the building.

The city council said the architectural value of Sakala 14 had been assessed repeatedly and that it was a valuable building to be preserved. Any reconstruction must take account of the restrictions applying to the property and the protection and use conditions for heritage areas.

The August sales notice requires the buyer to preserve and restore the building. Some business premises on the second floor are currently being used by a private individual for cultural activities under an open-ended agreement at a monthly rent of 114.23 euros.

Kuzina said the earlier plans to widen the street were no longer current. There is currently no project under way to widen the pavements or rebuild the street in the manner referred to in 2020, she said.

The National Heritage Board has previously said the two-storey house, built in the 19th century, is rare because of its richly decorated wooden facade. Original features include the wooden cladding, corner mouldings and a double-leaf exterior door with a canopy.

The interior is also notable, with its original layout, tiled stoves, mirror-vaulted ceilings, wooden staircases and interior doors with metal fittings.