Suure-Kõpu (Gross-Köppo) manor dates back to 1487. During the larger part of its history it belonged to different Baltic aristocratic families. After Estonia gained its independence in 1919, the manor began to be used as a school house. The current building was erected in 1847 and is one of the latest classicist manor houses to be built in Estonia. The rather large manor house shows close resemblance with the Kuremaa manor house, which was built by the same architect, Emil Julius Strauss. The manor house was, from the outset, lavishly decorated inside with frescoes and wall-paintings in classicist style, and at a later time Art Nouveau decoration in Papier-mâché and imitation stucco were added. However, during the Soviet occupation of Estonia, these decorations were deemed unfitting and painted over. They were re-discovered in the 1970's and have in recent years been painstakingly restored.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.