MM Senator Grassley’s Legislative Director James Rice Bought a House in Estonia: “I Liked Hiiumaa Too, but I Decided Saaremaa Was the Place”

James Rice is the Legislative Director for U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa. His work includes foreign policy and keeping up with the Baltic's well-being. But even more fascinating is that James Rice is a big fan of Estonia. He even bought a house in Saaremaa.

“Why not? It’s a great place,” James explains. He gets that question often enough that he should have a proper, thought-out answer, but James just happened to fall in love with the country. “I grew up with Ronald Reagan as president. He would talk about captive nations, and I was always sort of fascinated in that and the sort of struggle against communism.”

James got a chance to go to Estonia in 2005 for a civic education conference. A delegation from Iowa educators was going and invited him to come along. “I was excited to go because I had never been to a part of the Soviet Union, as it were,” he says.

Estonia Inspires With Its Story of Freedom

Tallinn exceeded his expectations. “Tallinn is gorgeous. They had a conference at the Viru Hotel, and then they would have 20-minute breaks in between sessions. They said, Don't leave the hotel, but like – I've got 20 minutes. So I went and I saw as much of the old town as I could and then ran back.”

They even did tours that talked about the resistance against communism right after that time. The movie “Singing Revolution" came out soon after. “I made all my friends go and see,” James smirks. “And so I just got progressively more, you know… I was just inspired, kind of by the Estonian resistance to the Soviet occupation.”

In addition, the Estonian countryside looks like where he vacationed in Minnesota with his family. “I enjoy that and I appreciate the Estonian national character, which apparently Americans are supposed to find too reserved. But I appreciate it.”

James has been to laulupidu twice. But to Estonia overall? “I’m not sure, I've gotten to the point where it's hard to count. It's probably somewhere between 10 and 20 times.”

James’ first trip to Estonia in April 2005.

A Log Cabin In Saaremaa

But Saaremaa was the one place that caught his eye. In 2009, he went on a tour in Estonia and the others were talking about Saaremaa, how it is particularly like a Estonian part of Estonia. “It was said to be more sort of traditional, and I was like, well, I need to check that place out!”

So James went to Saaremaa on his own to check it out. He rented a car and drove all around and liked everything he saw. “Of course, just to be fair, I later went back with a friend and went around Hiiumaa just to compare. And I liked Hiiumaa too, but I decided Saaremaa was the place.”

The decision to get his own place in Estonia was quite a thought out of nowhere. “Just one day, sort of randomly, I was bored on a Saturday, and I thought, I wonder if there are property websites for Estonia in English that I could look up. There is,” he laughs. “And I was wondering what you can get. So you can get a log cabin near the water for relatively inexpensive. And I looked all over Estonia.”

The house James got ended up bigger than he intended. “I thought I'd just take what I'm allowed. So it’s a good-sized summer home, and the thought is someday to be able to spend more of my summer there.” The only hesitation is the wintertime. “I've never been there in the winter. I don't know if I'd like to spend the whole winter. Maybe I'll like it. I am a little nervous about all the darkness. But I'd love to see Estonia in the wintertime.”

James Rice in Saaremaa at the front of Mustjala Püha Anna church. Photos from James Rice private collection.

Everyone who knows James knows Estonia

The connections in Estonia have grown over time. “Now when I go to visit, I have to go longer every time because I have more and more people that need to catch up with,” he says. His all-time favorite cities in Estonia are Tallinn and Haapsalu.

All of James’ friends know about the country by now. “But, indeed, people generally hadn't heard about it or didn't know much about it,” he says. Everyone is keen on the culture, too. James has even brought a few friends over to Estonia. “I have several people planning to come in August once I have my house all up and going, and now I'm worried about where I'm going to put them.”

James has been trying to learn Estonian as well, but it is difficult to do so without having the speaking practice. He is hoping to catch on when spending more time in Saaremaa.

James Aaron Rice has been working for U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa since June 2000. In this role, James oversees Senator Grassley’s legislative team while also serving as the chief advisor to Senator Grassley on foreign policy matters. This includes staffing Senator Grassley in his role as co-chair of the Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus, where James coordinates with the three Baltic embassies and Baltic American organizations to build on the strong U.S.-Baltic partnership.