Högvalla
Högvalla
The school for household professionals and teachers – Högvalla Seminarium i Huslig Ekonomi och Husmoderskola – was was originally founded by Mrs Fanny Sundström in 1908 at a place called Högvalla in the county of Karjaa. The house where the school was conducting its education burned to the ground in 1915, after which most of the activity was transferred to Hinthaara manor. The education became quite popular, and soon the school needed bigger premises.
A solution was found in 1927 when Högvalla Ltd, a company founded for the purpose to run the school, acquired Boe manor from Svenska småbruk och egna hem Ltd. They decided to use the original name of the school also at this new site, and soon Boe manor became commonly known as Högvalla.
The education was quite popular among swedish speaking families in Finland, and therefore many families have a female relative who went to Högvalla for education. The families are also numerous who have a male relative who used to climb the walls of the buildings, as close to 100 female students use to study and live at Högvalla at any given time.
Changes in the education system in the middle of the 1990’s discontinued the possibility to become a teacher as a result of studies at Högvalla, and consequently the school lost its popularity. Big investments in a lab and a house for the pupils the middle of the 1980’s had also put a serious strain on the schools economy. With less students it then became impossible to continue the education, and soon the school had to close down completely.
In the end of 1996 Samfundet Folkhälsan acquired the company Högvalla Ltd. During their time the place was mainly used for different educational courses and camps. Folkhälsan had however their focus of their activities in other places, and therefore they decided to sell Boe manor. The sale was finalized in October 2002.
