The Kirna estate was given as a gift to the von Fersen family in 1614 and remained in the ownership for over a hundred years. After 1787, it belonged to various Baltic German and Russian families from the nobility. After 1919 it was used as a school up until World War II. During the Soviet occupation of Estonia, the manor housed the offices of a collective farm. Today it stands in private ownership and is used for it's energetically propitious place as spa.
The building received its present appearance during a neoclassical reconstruction of an earlier building around 1820. The hall and other ceremonial rooms on the main floor was at that time also decorated with typical stucco ornaments. Some later additions were in a neo-Gothic style. The family cemetery of the von Osten-Sacken family together with the ruins of a funeral chapel reminding one of an antique temple are located near the centre of the estate.
References:House of the Blackheads (Melngalvju nams) is a building situated in the old town of Riga. The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. Major works were done in the years 1580 and 1886, adding most of the ornaments.
The structure was bombed to a ruin by the Germans June 28, 1941 and the remains demolished by the Soviets in 1948. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999. Today the House of Blackheads serves as a museum and sometimes concert hall.