It seems a while ago since we’ve used our membership cards and visited a National Trust property. We don’t seem to use our membership during the winter months but now it’s Spring we have made a list of all the places we would like to visit this year. With a few days away in York we knew we wanted to visit The Treasurer’s House in the centre of York.

A guided tour of The Treasurer’s House York

Admission to The Treasurer’s House is only by guided tour, which was stipulated by the donor, Frank Green back in the 1930s. We managed to book our slot online so turned up at the allotted time for our tour. Guided tours don’t always work well for our children but our guides were knowledgeable and friendly, which kept the kids occupied. Plus there were small stuffed mice dressed in clothes to find in each room, which my daughter loved spotting.

The Treasurer’s House York is a real jewel of a property. Frank Green bought three properties and turned them into one house, which meant he added walls and took them away when he felt like it. He created corridors and moved fireplaces. I’m not sure he would have got away with that practice today, but The Treasurer’s House York is definitely a quirky place to explore.

The rooms we saw were never really used for living, so felt like they had been created by the owner. He bought treasures wherever he could find them, so the rooms had the feeling of a bit of a jumble, with family portraits alongside one he had bought from old houses.

There is plenty to see and do, as well as a cafe in the basement and a sweet garden squeezed between the house and York Minster.

We thoroughly enjoyed our guided tour of The Treasurer’s House York. There are several other properties owned by the National Trust but sadly we didn’t get to visit them on this trip.