Gainsborough's House is a typical example of Suffolk vernacular architecture, constructed from a timber frame with wattle and daub in-fill. The building was originally two cottages that were joined together in about 1520. A brick facade was added in the 1720s by the artist's father. In the 1790s additions were made to the back of the house to make it a more elegant residence.
In the 1890s the property was purchased by a builder and parts of it were sold off. The warehouse, used for storing cloth, now a restaurant, was sold and part of the extensive garden was developed as a silk factory.
Gainsborough's House, the only artist's birthplace open to the public in Britain, was established as a museum in 1961. It shows a large collection of Gainsborough's paintings, drawings and prints as well as temporary exhibitions. At the back of the museum is a walled garden with a four hundred year-old mulberry tree. It is used for exhibitions of sculpture during the summer months. At the bottom of the garden is a coach house built in 1928 that has been converted for use as a Print Workshop. Two derelict cottages adjoining the east side of the garden have been refurbished and now form the main visitor entrance, Gift Shop and Coffee Shop, with the Hills Room Education Centre upstairs. This room is used for educational activities, lectures and social events.
Gainsborough's House is a registered museum number 687 administered by Gainsborough's House Society (registered charity number 214046) and supported by Suffolk County Council, Babergh District Council, Sudbury Town Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Friends of Gainsborough's House.
