Few houses are open to the public along the Herengracht, so make a beeline to this mansion to see Grachtengordel (Canal Ring) luxury at its best. In 1895, the widow Sandrina Louisa Willet-Holthuysen donated the house and contents—which included her husband's extensive art collection—to the city of Amsterdam. You can wander through this 17th-century canal house, now under the management of Amsterdam's Historisch Museum, and discover all its original 18th-century interiors, complete with that era's mod cons from ballroom to cabinet des merveilles (rarities cabinet). You can air out the aura of Dutch luxury by lounging in the French-style garden in the back.
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