Huis Van Gijn, Historical house museum in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
Huis Van Gijn is a historic house museum in Dordrecht displaying every floor from cellar to roof space, showing how a well-off household functioned around 1900. The building contains original furnishings, paintings, ceramics, and everyday objects that belonged to the family and their servants.
Simon van Gijn, a banker and art collector, converted his family home into a museum in the late 1800s. His personal collection of paintings, prints, furniture, weapons, and ceramics was preserved in place, turning the house into a time capsule of that era.
The house reveals how wealthy households were organized and how family members and servants shared the same building with clear boundaries. You can see the roles and routines of daily life through the carefully arranged rooms and furnishings from that era.
The museum is located on the Nieuwe Haven in central Dordrecht and is easy to reach on foot from the city center. The building has narrow staircases between floors, so wear comfortable shoes and allow time to move carefully between levels.
The attic contains a substantial collection of toys from the 1800s, revealing how children entertained themselves in that period. A special room called the costume chamber lets visitors try on period clothing to get a sense of what daily dress felt like.
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