Description

The name Valdeķi means a corner of the forest. In 1845, the manor owner Nikolaus von Koskull formed the Valdeķi Manor from a number of Aizdzire Manor farmers’ estates, which he then gifted to his spouse Louise, née Hahn.

The Valdeķi Manor building was built in 1882, and it was, possibly, designed by the Kurzeme architect Theodor Seiler. The building is distinguished by the Baroque-style access staircase built in 1930-ties.
In early 20th century, the manor estate was owned by the envoy Eugene Schwartz. In 1931, in a rather dilapidated state, the building was purchased from the sculptor Arnolds Dzirkalis for 6 million Latvian lats by the Latvian press mogul and millionaire Antons Benjamiņš (1860-1939), who set up a model farm on the estate — “The pearl of rural Latvia”. The beautiful landscape consisted of a park, a cascade of ponds with bridges and pavilions.

In 1941, the manor estate was nationalised, the owner E. Benjamiņa was deported to Siberia. Antons Benjamiņš died in his Valdeķi estate. During the war, the manor estate was taken away by force from the Benjamiņš family, but in 1997, the property was returned to the family.

At the manor, visitors can see an exhibition of large format travel photographs taken by their adopted son Juris Benjamiņš, who was the first Latvian colour photographer, chemist and owner of a film factory in Canada. This venue is also available for weddings and banquets.