Amstel House & Dutch House Museums

Address Amstel House: 2 East Fourth Street, Dutch House: 32 East Third Street, New Castle, DE 19720

Ticket Purchase: New Castle Visitor Center at The Arsenal, 30 Market Street, New Castle

Phone: (302) 322-2794

170 Years of New Castle Domestic Life, Two Houses at a Time

From a 17th-Century Dutch Settler’s Cottage to Delaware’s First Georgian Mansion — One Ticket Covers Both

Standing less than a block apart on the cobblestone streets of Historic New Castle, the Dutch House and Amstel House tell one of the most elegantly compressed stories in American historic preservation: 170 years of domestic life in the same Delaware River town, moving from the rough-hewn pragmatism of a 17th-century working household to the polished ambition of Delaware’s first Georgian mansion. Visit them in sequence — and ideally also visit the Read House & Gardens on The Strand — and you have walked through the complete social and architectural arc of colonial New Castle in a single afternoon.

Both museums are operated by the New Castle Historical Society, established in 1934 and the primary steward of New Castle’s extraordinary pre-Revolutionary built environment.

2026 Hours: The Amstel House and Dutch House are open for walk-in tours Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (last tour starts at 3:00 p.m.) and Sunday, noon–4:00 p.m. (last tour starts at 3:00 p.m.), April 4 through December 27, 2026.

Both museums are closed Monday through Friday for walk-in visits.

Group tours for 10 or more people are available any day of the week by advance appointment — call (302) 322-2794. The museums are also closed on New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve.

A helpful scheduling note: Amstel House tours start on even hours; Dutch House tours start on odd hours — so the two can be visited back-to-back in a single morning or afternoon without conflict.

Admission: Individual house — Adults $4, Children (ages 6–12) $1.50. Combined ticket for both houses — Adults $7, Children $2.50. Tickets are available at the New Castle Visitor Center at The Arsenal, 30 Market Street. Children under 6 are free.

Accessibility: The first floor of the Amstel House is fully accessible; alternative interpretive materials are available for the second floor. The Dutch House is partially accessible — all tour areas are viewable. 

The Dutch House (ca. 1690–1700): Delaware’s Oldest Surviving Structure

The Dutch House at 32 East Third Street, facing the New Castle Green, is the oldest surviving structure in New Castle and the second-oldest in the entire state of Delaware. Built between 1690 and 1700, it represents the domestic architecture of New Castle’s Dutch colonial period — a low, narrow brick structure whose door is now below street level, because the streets around it have been raised and repaved multiple times over the past 325 years.

The Dutch House tells the story of the middle-class tradespeople and craftspeople who formed the economic backbone of early New Castle — not the wealthy merchants and governors, but the skilled workers, small businesspeople, and their families who built and sustained the town. The house is furnished with Dutch colonial antiques appropriate to the period, creating a vivid material record of domestic life in the late 17th-century Delaware Valley.

One of the Dutch House’s most intriguing historical details: although the architectural style is unmistakably Dutch — consistent with the Dutch settlers who had controlled New Castle since 1655 — the building methods revealed during renovations were English. The house was built by Dutch owners using the construction traditions of English craftsmen they employed or worked alongside. It is, in this small detail, a perfect artifact of the multicultural colonial Delaware Valley.

Trivia: Due to centuries of street-raising throughout New Castle’s history, the Dutch House doorstep sits below the current street level — you step down to enter rather than up. The house is literally more original than the street surrounding it.

The Amstel House (1738): Delaware’s First Georgian Mansion and Home of a Revolutionary Governor

Built in 1738 and originally known as “The Corner,” the Amstel House at 2 East Fourth Street was the most important private residence in late 18th-century New Castle — Delaware’s first Georgian mansion and the social hub of colonial high society in the state’s then-capital.

The Amstel House’s most celebrated resident was Governor Nicholas Van Dyke (1738–1789), who occupied the house during the Revolutionary War period. Van Dyke was a member of the Continental Congress and a central figure in Delaware’s revolutionary government, which makes the Amstel House not just a fine example of Georgian domestic architecture but an active participant in the events of the American founding.

The house’s connection to George Washington is not a matter of legend but of documented fact: Washington visited the Amstel House and attended a wedding reception held there during one of his visits to New Castle. “Stand where George Washington once stood while attending a wedding reception” is the kind of thing that sounds like tourism hyperbole until you’re actually standing in the room and it stops being hyperbole.

The Architecture and Collections

The Amstel House is furnished with original family artifacts, New Castle period pieces, and decorative arts reflecting the lifestyle of Delaware’s colonial elite. Among the most distinctive features:

• The large open hearth in the kitchen — the site of the Historical Society’s popular monthly hearth cooking demonstrations
• Authentic period woodwork and architectural details characteristic of Georgian design
• Original family artifacts connected to the Van Dyke and other New Castle families who occupied the house
• The formal garden, which provides a beautiful outdoor setting and serves as a venue for the Historical Society’s Fourth Friday art events and occasional living history programming

Programs at the New Castle Historical Society

Beyond the house tours, the Historical Society maintains an active public programming calendar centered on New Castle’s exceptional history:

Monthly Hearth Cooking Demonstrations Join the society’s 18th-century hearth cooks in the Amstel House kitchen for hands-on demonstrations of historic recipes and cooking methods from New Castle’s colonial and early national periods. Free. Enter through the rear door via the garden.

Fourth Friday Arts Events Monthly town-wide cultural events on the Fourth Friday of each month, featuring local artists and participating venues throughout the Historic New Castle district.

New Castle AudioWalk A self-guided audio tour of the Historic District, available on SoundCloud. Start in the Amstel House gardens and walk through 400 years of New Castle history at your own pace.

Liberty & Intelligence Adventure Game A self-guided espionage-themed adventure through the historic district. Pick up the guide at the New Castle Visitor Center at The Arsenal for $35.

Lecture and Living History Programs A year-round series including Revolutionary War history, Delaware colonial studies, and commemorative programming. 2026 marks both the 250th anniversary of the United States and the 375th anniversary of European settlement in New Castle — making this a particularly rich year for programming.

Visiting the Amstel and Dutch Houses as Part of Historic New Castle

The Dutch House faces the New Castle Green directly — the same cobblestone common around which the Court House, the Arsenal Visitor Center, and the historic district’s core are arranged. The Amstel House is one block away at Fourth and Delaware Streets. Together with the New Castle Court House Museum (free), the Read House & Gardens, and the New Castle Visitor Center at The Arsenal, the two houses anchor a self-contained full afternoon of colonial American history accessible entirely on foot within a few cobblestone blocks.