Jaunmoku Palace's Neogothic style is in perfect harmony with its Art Nouveau features, placing it among the architectural greats of Latvia.
The building (ca.1901), initially intended as a hunting lodge for Riga Mayor George Armitstead, is located outside the city of Tukums (Kurzeme). The design master is the Baltic-German architect Wilhelm Boxlaff. Among the interior features are a Dutch tile wood stove-heater with paintings of the well-known Riga's panorama.
Both the Red Army and the Nazi occupation armies found the Manor house useful for their specific needs; initially it was a School for Sergeants (Russian), later, a radio station (German), but near the end of the war - a military hospital (German). In the post-war Soviet period, it was practically everything: office building, retail outlet, movie theater, apartment house. The premises was widely used, but, alas, physical care for it was sorely lacking. With sections of the edifice crumbling, the Forestry Ministry took over in 1974. The palace's restoration was launched, and it lasted over 20 years.
