Laamannintalo ja Östensön koulukoti (Lagmansgården och Östensö skolhem)

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

Östensö laamannintalo, built in 1778, is one of the oldest surviving judges' official residences in Finland. The Östensö former orphanage, founded in 1902 on the land of the official residence, is one of the early social institutions of the private charity movement. The building stock of the residential school reflects the built heritage of state child welfare, and it shows the historical continuity of official residence and institutional construction from the 18th century until the Second World War.

Östensö is one of six state residential schools. The oldest building of the residential school, located along the Purmojoki river, is the former laamanni's official residence completed in 1778, a two-storey Ostrobothnian house, the upper floor of which is based on the Carolean floor plan popular at the time of construction. The buildings completed for school use in 1910-1914, designed by provincial architect Alfred Wilhelm Stenfors, are a single-storey school building, a hip-roofed cowshed, a stable and a number of outbuildings. On the south side of the courtyard is a three-storey rendered pupils' dormitory from 1938, designed by architect Martti Välikangas.

History

When Swedish rule became established in the Middle Ages, Finland was formed into a single laamannikunta, which was divided into two parts in 1435 and further into five parts in 1776. Gustaf Idman was appointed laamanni of the Vaasa and Oulu laamannikunta, established at that time, and his official residence was the crown holding Isakas, a 1/4 mantal, in the village of Östensö in Pedersöre.

Laamanni Idman had the main building with its outbuildings built on the Östensö holding in 1778. It had been decided that laamanninoikeus sessions would be held in the building, so it was built large and impressive. After Idman's term as laamanni, the house was at times unoccupied. The laamanninoikeus, which in the judicial hierarchy ranked between the district court and the court of appeal, was abolished in Finland in 1868. The last laamanni of Vaasa and Oulu was H.G. Aminoff, 1859-1868, after which the property was leased out.

The Föreningen för värnlösa barns uppfostran i Finland (Association for the Upbringing of Destitute Children in Finland) leased the main building, the garden and part of the outbuildings of the Östensö holding in 1902 and founded the Östensö school, which was named Vaasan läänin kotikoulu (Vasa läns hemskola). The Laamannintalo served as the main building of the institution until 1938. The institution passed to the state in 1910 and became a boys' turvakoti, whose school building was completed in 1912. In the 1910s and 1920s several outbuildings were built on the property. The dormitory building Storgården was completed in 1938.

In 1947 the Östensö turvakoti became a koulukoti (Östensö skolhem). Storgården was renovated in 1979-1980, and the old laamannintalo was partly restored in 1984 according to restoration aims. The name changed to Lagmansgården in 1988 and to VBU-center/Lagmansgården in the 1990s.