The Rånäs manor (or Rånäs castle) was built in the 1850s by the Reuterskiöld family at the site of a 17th century manor, torn down after the completion of the present manor. Rånäs manor was designed by the leading architect of the time, professor Per Axel Nyström. Rånäs manor had a charter from 1774 for the yearly production of 1500 ship pounds (260,000 kg) of bar iron. In the fields surrounding the manor grain was cultivated and in its wide-stretched forests coal was bunkered. The manor also included a long low row of houses for the families of the workers employed at the manor, a position which was considered lifelong.
Following the 1932 Krueger Crash the manor was sold to the Municipality of Stockholm and used as a mental hospital until 1985. In 1996 the manor was bought by two private individuals and extensively restored. Since 1998 Rånäs Manor has been a hotel and conference center.
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.