Fodor's Expert Review 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 Geffreye, 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 Geffreye'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. Molly's Café, the excellent on-site eatery, provides appropriately homely lunches and snacks.