The New York Dutch Room, housed in Gallery 712 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, showcases the enduring influence of Netherlandish construction techniques in colonial New York. Dutch settlers started arriving in the Hudson River Valley during the early 1600s, building homes and barns in a style reminiscent of their homeland. The primary room, known as a “groote kaner” in Dutch, originates from a 1751 house constructed for Daniel Pieter Winne (1720–1800). Winne’s ancestors had relocated from Flanders to Rensselaerswyck (modern-day Albany County) via Curacao in 1643.
Rather than being styled as a fully furnished historical space, the room is displayed as a gallery, highlighting furniture, metalwork, ceramics, and glassware typical of Dutch-descended households in the New York region.
Interior Perspective of the New York Dutch Room at The Met

The room features wooden furniture, a window, and a portrait of a young girl, offering a glimpse into its historical ambiance.
Image: A look inside the New York Dutch Room.
Historical Background of the House
Location and Context
Dutch colonization in the New World began on Manhattan Island before expanding northward along the Hudson River to what is now Albany. There, a prosperous community emerged, centered on agriculture and trade with Native American groups.
Finnish explorer Peter Kalm, who traveled to Albany in 1749–50, noted that the town’s inhabitants exported goods like timber, flour, peas, and furs—often obtained through trade with Native Americans or smuggled from French territories—to New York City. Kalm observed that the combination of thriving commerce and the frugal Dutch lifestyle contributed to the wealth accumulated by many residents.
Image: A map of Colonial America’s Eastern Seaboard from Nicholaes Visscher’s Atlas Contractus (1655–57), depicting Dutch settlements across present-day New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut in the early 17th century. Source: New York Public Library.
Netherlandish Building Styles in Colonial America
Daniel Pieter Winne’s 1751 house, despite his family’s century-long presence in the Upper Hudson River Valley, retained a architectural style deeply rooted in medieval Dutch traditions.

Image: A painting of a yellow house with red shutters, showing a man on horseback, another on foot, and a woman working in the background.
The Winne family occupied the house for generations. David Winne (1819–1882) and Catherine Winne (1827–1893) were the last to live there, though their daughter and granddaughter rented it out until it was sold in 1954.
Image: A speculative illustration of the Daniel Pieter Winne House.
Exterior Features
Composite Image: On the left, a speculative rendering of the Winne House framing; on the right, a close-up of a mortise-and-tenon joint and corbel.

A defining characteristic of Dutch homes was the steeply pitched gable roof. The structure relied on a system of post-and-beam supports called “anchor bents,” with curved corbels serving both functional and aesthetic purposes. The full assembly of an anchor-bent, including its mortise-and-tenon joint and corbel, is visible in the house’s framing illustration.
The gaps between the bents were filled with locally made bricks, referred to as nogging when used in this way, and then clad with pine clapboards. The interior side of the nogging was plastered and whitewashed, creating a bright space. The polished posts, beams, and white walls amplified the natural light streaming through the double casement window.
Image: A close-up of nogging partially covered with pine clapboards.
Interior Layout
Black-and-White Illustration: A depiction of a short staircase.

The Winne House consisted of two ground-floor rooms, a half-story attic, and a cellar. The larger of the two main rooms, now at The Met, originally featured a corner staircase near the front door, possibly with a built-in bed or cupboard in the opposite corner.
This central room served multiple purposes: cooking (evident from the large, open hearth), sleeping, socializing, and displaying prized possessions like ceramics, metalwork, textiles, and clothing.
Image: A speculative illustration of the corner staircase leading to the attic, with a door inside the stair structure accessing the cellar.
Decorative Tilework
Composite Image: On the left, a fragment of a blue-and-white tile; on the right, a clay tile in white and burgundy depicting a biblical scene with Jesus and others.

When the Winne House was disassembled, fragments of Dutch tiles were found. These earthenware tiles, crafted in the Netherlands, were a staple in Dutch American homes during the 17th and 18th centuries. Typically arranged vertically between the floor and fireplace mantel, as seen in The Met’s display, they often depicted New Testament scenes and likely played a role in teaching children moral lessons in colonial New York.

Left: Tile fragment from Utrecht, Netherlands, ca. 1750. Tin-glazed earthenware with cobalt decoration. Emily Crane Chadbourne Fund, 2003 (NYDR.2003.1).

Right: A Dutch tile similar to those in the New York Dutch Room’s fireplace, illustrating the wedding feast at Cana from the Gospel of John (2:1–11).
Evolution Over Time
Composite Image: On the left, a black house with white shutters and a porch; on the right, two carpenters working in a cluttered home.
Left: The Winne House in 2002, when The Met acquired it. J. M. Kelley, Ltd., Niskayuna, NY.

Right: Carpenters removing a later staircase in the Winne House’s main room, with the replacement chimneypiece visible on the right. J. M. Kelley, Ltd., Niskayuna, NY.
The Winne House saw significant changes over the 19th century, masking its original design. In the early 1800s, the Winnes added rooms to the first floor and attic along the entry side, altering the roofline. Further expansions occurred in the 1850s or 1860s and again in the 1930s, with all doors and windows replaced multiple times.
Inside, the original open “jambless” fireplace was replaced with an English-style hearth featuring a smaller firebox. The corner staircase was removed, and a straight staircase was added in a narrow hallway near the front door.