Geffrye Museum of the Home

Geffrye Museum of the Home Review

Here's where you can explore the life of London's middle class over the years (in contrast to the lifestyle evoked by the West End's grand aristocratic town houses) thanks to a spectacular array of period rooms. Originally a row of almshouses built in 1714 by Sir Robert Geffrye, a former Lord Mayor of London, this charming museum contains a series of 11 salons that re-create everyday domestic interiors from the Elizabethan period through the 1950s to the present day. One almshouse was restored to its original condition (to visit the almshouse you must go as part of a tour, which is offered at specific times each month). Outside, a series of period gardens charts the evolution of the town garden over the past 400 years, and next to them is a walled herb garden. The museum's extension wing houses the 20th-century galleries, a lovely café overlooking the gardens, and a shop.