In Hoxton, the Museum of the Home explores how Londoners have lived from the 1600s to the present. Its recreated interiors move through changing styles, from older parlours to late-20th-century homes, with furniture and household objects that put everyday life in focus. The former almshouses and the gardens add another layer to a visit, while galleries consider what home means across different cultures and communities. Entry is free. Allow about 90 minutes to see the rooms and grounds at a relaxed pace.
A museum inside former almshouses
The Museum of the Home occupies almshouses built in 1714. They were established to house widows of ironmongers, with funding linked to a bequest from Sir Robert Geffrye. The building’s history is part of the visit: the institution was once known as the Geffrye Museum, and Geffrye’s connection to the slave trade has since affected how his reputation is understood.
The site brings together the story of the building and the wider history of domestic life. Its rooms focus on ordinary homes rather than grand aristocratic interiors, using objects and settings to show how people arranged and experienced their living spaces.
Rooms through changing eras
The period-room displays trace interiors from the 1600s to the present. Recreated rooms include examples such as a Victorian parlour, an Arts and Crafts drawing room and a late-20th-century loft-style apartment. Furniture, textiles, paintings and decorative objects help distinguish one period from another. Details such as wallpaper and furnishings give each space its character, while household items including televisions and computers show how technology entered the home.
The Rooms Through Time display reaches beyond the present, with a proposed home for 2049. It places familiar domestic settings alongside a future design, inviting visitors to consider how homes may change. The sequence also includes rooms associated with recent decades, including a 1990s home, which can bring the history close to visitors’ own memories.
The displays are not limited to decoration. They connect interiors with the people who used them and the ways family life and daily routines changed. In the basement, the Home Galleries broaden the subject, exploring the meaning of home through individual stories, different cultural backgrounds and interactive installations.
Gardens and outdoor spaces
The grounds extend the museum’s focus beyond the front door. Gardens Through Time follows the changing role of outdoor space in urban homes, from an Elizabethan-style garden to a contemporary green roof. The displays consider how gardens have been shaped by the period and the available space, including the challenge of finding room for greenery in a city.
The historic gardens include plantings associated with different eras, and the grounds provide a place to pause between the indoor galleries. Together, the gardens and period rooms show how ideas about home have included both interiors and the spaces outside them.
Planning your visit
The museum is at 136 Kingsland Road in Hoxton, and admission is free. A visit of about 90 minutes allows time for the rooms and outdoor areas. The galleries include plenty of reading, so the displays may suit adults and older children more readily than very young visitors. Some areas have hands-on activities, including kitchen play sets.
The rooms take on a seasonal look at Christmas, when displays are dressed with festive decorations from different periods. If you are visiting with children, the museum has also been noted for free Explorer Backpacks with activity items such as a play camera, magnifying glass and LED writing board. Check the museum’s current visitor information before setting out for details of facilities and what is available during your visit.
Preguntas frecuentes
Is the Museum of the Home free?
Yes. Admission is free.
How long do you need at the Museum of the Home?
Allow around 90 minutes to explore the indoor rooms and outdoor grounds.
What can you see at the Museum of the Home?
The displays include recreated interiors from the 1600s to the present, galleries about the meaning of home and gardens tracing the history of domestic outdoor spaces.
Is the Museum of the Home suitable for children?
Some areas have tactile activities, including kitchen play sets. Much of the content involves reading, so very young children may find parts of the visit less engaging.
