Henrietta Street was laid out in the late 1720s by the Irish property developer Luke Gardiner. Many properties were speculative enterprises, but 14 Henrietta Street soon acquired a unique history that began as home to influential politicians and ended as tenement flats for dozens of families. In 2016, the Dublin City Council restored the mansion as a museum dedicated to the everyday life of Dubliners from the 1740s to the 1970s, when the last tenants moved out of the building.