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Built originally in 1899 as a civic club for Italians, the four-story Beaux-Arts landmark changed cultural alliances in 1946 when it began serving Estonian refugees. Since then, the Estonian House has evolved into a full-service community center, albeit one that's housed in a mansion. Up the ornately carved wooden staircase is the Great Hall, where formal dinners for visiting dignitaries, film screenings, and weekend language and history classes for children are held amid gray-and-white-striped paneling and diamond chandeliers. Downstairs, a clubhouse café and bar serves traditional Estonian meat-and-potato dishes as well as native liquors. While some events, such as flea markets, are open to the public, the majority are restricted to members of the Estonian Educational Society. — Laurel Fantauzzo