Museum of the Home

The Museum of the Home is housed in 18th-century almshouse buildings funded by the estate of Sir Robert Geffrye, a London mayor and merchant who built his fortune in part through transatlantic slavery. Formerly known as the Geffrye Museum, the museum opened in 1914 as a showcase of furniture and woodwork, serving as a resource for furniture industry workers. In the 1930s, the institution shifted its focus toward educating youth with collections that explored the history of domestic life.

In 2018, the Geffrye Museum of the Home closed for extensive renovations (and subsequently changed its name to Museum of the Home), reopening in 2021 with new galleries and learning spaces as well as a collections study room. In addition, the museum features the GRoW @ Annenberg Reading Lounge, a space for visitors to peruse a curated library of books and contemplate their own understanding of what home is and has the potential to be. Today, the museum explores the many ways in which humans define "home" and it encourages visitors to reexamine the ways that we live.