A Visit to Amsterdam's 18th and 19th Century at the Willet-Holthuysen House Museum

One of my favorite pastimes when visiting a European City is visiting a House Museum.  These museums provide a unique glimpse into the daily life of the families who lived these homes during the city’s historic past and in Amsterdam, we found The Museum Willet-Holthuysen. It is the only fully furnished canal-side aristocratic house in Amsterdam that is open to the public.

The Museum Willet-Holthuysen was built along the Grachtengordel (Canal Ring) for Jacob Hop, the mayor of Amsterdam, in 1685, but it is named after its last residents.  In 1739 the outside was redesigned to look as it does today, in the Louis XIV style, which was highly fashionable during the 18th century.

photo above by Jvhertum - Wikimedia Commons

The house became the property of wealthy coal merchant Peter Holthuysen in 1855. His daughter Louisa married Abraham Willet and both loved to collect beautiful art pieces and furnishings for their home. The museum has a large collection of silverware, plates, and books from the Dutch Golden Age.

The couple died childless, so in 1895, the house and its collection were left to the city of Amsterdam with the condition that it would become a museum.

Walking through this beautiful canal home is like stepping back in time to see how the wealthy merchant class lived during the 19th century.  Three floors are open to the public, the ground floor (basement) with the kitchen and garden, the first floor with its long hallway and grand formal rooms, and the top floor where one bedroom is on display as well as a small study and exhibition rooms. 

The museum Entrance leads you into the ground floor basement and garden area where you purchase your tickets and proceed into the home.

The kitchen is in the basement, at the garden end of the house. This beautifully tiled room was the staff’s domain. When the Willet-Holthuysens lived here, there was a huge stove.  The  room display is an interpretation of a late eighteenth-century kitchen, made up of items from different houses in Amsterdam

A staircase leads from the service areas to the first floor, where the family's formal rooms are located along a long decorative hall.

The Women’s Salon was the room where Louisa Willet-Holthuysen received her guests. A reception room like this was designed to show a hostess to her best advantage. To obtain the desired effect, the room was furnished in a cool and distinguished Louis XVI style.

The Ball Room was created in 1865, when the Willet-Holthuysens converted the main room on the ground floor into a hall for entertaining guests. They hosted musical concerts, literary events and gala balls. The furnishings and upholstery in the ballroom were also done in the sumptuous Louis XVI style.

The Men's Parlor, in Abraham Willet’s day was actually green rather than the current blue damask, and it was here that the master of the house received his guests. Here Willet would host art lectures for his fellow collectors, showing off his latest acquisitions. His guests would sit around a big table, with space for up to eighteen chairs.  The furniture on display is on loan from Quignon of Paris.  The chimney "grisaille" painting is by Jacob de Wit (1695-1754).

The Dining Room is a more intimate space than the Men’s Parlor.  Primarily because of its low ceiling. At one time there was a storeroom in the mezzanine floor above the room where the tableware was kept. The silk wall covering is a careful copy of the 18th century original.

The table is laid out as a stylish dinner for six. In the middle is an ornamental centerpiece. It is part of a 275-piece Meissen porcelain service with which the Willets could seat 24 at dinner. Larger parties would be held at the huge table in the men’s parlor.

The Conservatory which is located at the end of the long corridor, was used by Louisa Willet-Holthuysen used as a tea-room. With its characteristic shape, light-green woodwork and its setting overlooking the garden, it has the feel of an eighteenth-century pavilion.

The Garden currently dates from 1973, when it was laid out as an early 18th-century city garden in the French style. How the garden actually looked during the residence of the Willets is uncertain.

The Formal Staircase built in 1740, with its elaborate gilded balustrade leads to The Bedroom, The Collectors Room and the Exhibition Rooms. The lower  walls of the stairwell are painted to look like marble and the upper wals are decorated with niches filled with statuary.

The Collection Room is a small, low-ceilinged room that Abraham Willet called his “antique room”. Here he would invite his connoisseur friends to informal gatherings to view the smaller items in his collection. These included medallions, sculpture, glass and other valuable objects.  It is furnished in the sober Dutch Renaissance style with dark wood and stained-glass windows.

The Bedroom is an interpretation of what the bedroom used by Louisa and Abraham Willet would have looked like.  Their bedroom furnishings would have been done in the Louis XVI style, but have not been preserved.  The current bedroom space was originally a library and their original bedroom was across the hall where the exhibition rooms are now located.  The bed is a “lits-jumeaux”. It is comprised of two separate beds with two half canopies side by side. It is known that this is what the Willets had.

The Exhibition Rooms show off a portion of the amazing collection created by Louisa and Abraham and is a delight to explore.

The Museum Willet-Holthuysen is being carefully restored one room at a time to bring it back as close as possible to the original appearance of the home when the family occupied the residence.  Be sure to follow their progress and be sure to visit the museum when you are in Amsterdam!