Padure Manor in July reached the peak of summer — if June was just the warm-up, July arrived at the manor with the full force of summer. The rooms were booked almost without pause, courtyard chatter mixed with the click of photographers’ shutters, and even the quietest evenings turned in an instant into spontaneous welcomes for new travelers. In the evenings, candles lit up along the linden alley, and laughter from celebrations blended with the songs of summer birds — the manor was breathing at full life.
The month unfolded in a string of celebrations, large and small. It began with hospitality at its finest, as families took over the manor to celebrate life and milestone anniversaries. A special warmth marked one mid-July weekend that started as a modest gathering of nine, then grew within days into a three-day celebration for 21 guests along the linden alley and in the great hall — exactly what old manors were built to experience. Celebrations like these are a reminder of why families choose Padure Manor year after year — the scale of the rooms, the personal approach, and the freedom to celebrate under open skies without worrying about time limits.
Alongside the celebrations, art breathed through the manor as well. Early in the month, Julia Chochola’s solo exhibition “EMBER” brought a spark into the historic walls — open to visitors through August 28, it offers a rare, visually striking dialogue between 19th-century architecture and contemporary art. Julia Chochola is no accidental guest — she comes from a family of artists: her brother Matyáš Chochola is a laureate of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award, and her sister performs with the avant-garde group Mydy Rabycad. Julia herself lived and worked in New Zealand for nearly a decade, and EMBER marks her return to Europe with more than 80 new works created far from home. On opening night, July 4, the manor’s halls hosted the premiere of composer Daniel Wunsch’s piece “Tranquillitas Ardere,” written specifically for the project — adding a sonic dimension to the exhibition’s themes of matter, body, and memory. In the second half of July, that creative mood was carried forward by a photographers’ camp, where the manor’s unique light, quiet rooms, and unpolished setting became a natural creative studio for several days.
We welcomed countless travelers — large excursion groups, including guests from “Impro,” a Swedish family in our Family Room, and individual friends of the manor. Excursion groups this summer arrived not only from Latvia but also from Lithuania, proving that the manor’s story reaches travelers across borders. One especially moving moment was a visit from the Deaf community, once again proving that the beauty of history speaks without words and belongs to everyone. Toward the end of July, a film camera turned through the manor’s halls once more, capturing stories together with our shareholder, the acclaimed actor Gundars Āboliņš — continuing the manor’s long-standing collaboration with the film industry, which has previously seen these rooms serve as a filming location for the TV3 series “Pansija pilī.”
The summer season at the manor is also enriched by international volunteers who arrive through the Workaway platform and help maintain the park, the garden, and everyday hospitality — one more chapter in the manor’s openness to the world.
While guests enjoyed the summer, the operational side never paused. We completed the installation of a new heat pump — a modern Alpha Innotec SW 302H3 with 29.6 kW output, giving the manor a modern and sustainable source of heat for seasons to come. At the same time, we restored two historic doors, returning a little more of the building’s original 1838 character. It all translated into a clear, measurable result too — July’s operating revenue grew by roughly 85% compared to the same month last year.
For anyone who hasn’t yet experienced the manor’s atmosphere, a reminder: the EMBER exhibition welcomes visitors through August 28, guided excursions are available from €12 per person, and a walk through the historic park starts at just €2.
The manor is alive, busy, and open — every month writes a new page in its nearly two-hundred-year history. Thank you to everyone who was part of our everyday life this month. And if you’d like to become part of this story too — as a guest, or as a co-owner of the manor by joining our current investment round — our doors remain wide open.