Museum of the Home
In contrast to the West End's grand aristocratic town houses, this charming museum is devoted to the life of the city's middle class over the years. Originally a row of almshouses built in 1714, it now contains a series of 11 rooms that re-create everyday domestic interiors from the Elizabethan period through the 1950s to the present day. The Home Galleries, located in the basement of the museum, puts it all in context with a wider history of the concept of home that includes plenty of interactive exhibits.
Outside, a series of gardens charts the evolution of the town garden over the past 400 years; next to them is a walled herb garden. In the museum's front garden, you'll find a statue of Sir Robert Geffrye, the English merchant who founded the almshouses; the museum used to bear his name, but in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and the acknowledgment of Geffrye's connections with the transatlantic slave trade, the museum has been renamed. After consultation, the museum decided against removing the statue and instead commissioned displays and artwork to recontextualize it. There's currently no on-site café, but visitors are encouraged to bring their own food to enjoy in the lunchroom.
