The Geffrye is one of the museums that I’ve gone by a million times, and kept telling myself that I’ll stop by soon. After about 2 years of passing the Geffrye Museum on the overground, I finally managed to get myself in there. And boy am I glad I did! The Gardens are worth a visit alone.
I love old almshouses, and the Geffrye has converted the old 18th century almshouses into the museum. The Geffrye’s tag line is that it’s “the museum of the home” so it focuses on interior design across the years. One of my favourite things about it is the way it’s set up; all the walls have been knocked down between the individual houses; and each house is a different era of interior design. Each showcases the parlour/living room of a specific time period from 1630-1998.
And if you’re in the mood to sit and have a coffee, the cafe at the museum is really incredible and it’s in an extremely warm and cozy greenhouse like space. But as I mentioned before, the star of the museum has to be the gardens. Just like inside the museum itself, each section of the gardens shows a garden style from a different era. My favourite garden was probably the Edwardian one, with the Arts and Crafts motif reflected in its design; but they are all gorgeous!
The Geffrye Museum can be found at 136 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8EA.
Their hours are Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 5pm, Bank Holiday Mondays 10am – 5pm and entrance is free!
