Laupa estate was established at the beginning of the 17th century. A wooden house was built at the site in 1853-55 by the Taube family but it was burnt down by insurgents during the revolt of 1905.
The current building was designed by Tallinn-based architect Jacques Rosenbaum in 1910 and completed in 1913. The style is an eclectic neo-Baroque architecture with strong Art Nouveau and neo-Rococo influences. The manor is considered to be one of Rosenbaum's most historically faithful buildings. The building is richly decorated with pilasters, half-columns, terraces, balustrades, stucco garlands and rococo sea shells. Some of the decorations were produced in the renowned workshop of sculptor August Volz in Riga. The manor is considered to be one of the most artistically accomplished manor houses in Estonia.
Today Laupa manor houses a school.
References:Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.
German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.
After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.