The building dates to around 1606, renovated in 1627 probably under the supervision of architect Jacob van Campen, who added an extra floor and a new facade with a triangular pediment. When Rembrandt moved in, Amsterdam's Jodenbreestraat was a thriving commercial district. He used the house not only as home and studio but also as an art dealership, displaying his own collection of works by other artists and selling paintings to wealthy clients. After his bankruptcy in 1658, the house passed through various owners and underwent multiple renovations.

By the early 20th century, the building had deteriorated badly. The Rembrandt Year celebrations of 1906 inspired action: the municipality of Amsterdam purchased it in 1907 and donated it to the Rembrandthuis foundation. Architect Karel de Bazel led a restoration from 1907 to 1911, and on June 10, 1911, the museum opened its doors. Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik were the first visitors. The painter Jozef Israels had championed the initiative. Today, the museum draws around 200,000 visitors annually, with a record 280,000 in 2019.

Walk through and you see Rembrandt's living room, his art room filled with curiosities and collected objects, and the studio where natural light falls on easels arranged much as they would have been in the 1640s. Works by his teacher Pieter Lastman and pupils Ferdinand Bol and Govert Flinck hang in the period rooms. The museum owns an almost complete collection of Rembrandt's etchings, along with some of his original copper plates, regularly displayed in the etching cabinet and temporary exhibitions.

In 1997, archaeologists excavating Rembrandt's cesspool found two ceramic pots. For years, their purpose remained unclear. Then in 2019, material-technical research revealed one contained remnants of quartz soil - a mixture of quartz and clay that Rembrandt used to prepare his canvases before painting. Curator Leonore van Sloten noted that Rembrandt started using this technique from the moment he lived in the house, and as far as researchers know, he was the only artist who did. The mixture was likely convenient for practical and financial reasons. Those two pots, recovered from the artist's own waste, now sit on display in the museum.

The museum extends into the neighboring house, which provides modern gallery space and a museum shop. Temporary exhibitions explore Rembrandt's contemporaries and artistic descendants. Recent shows have examined "Rembrandt's Social Network," the elephant Hansken that the artist famously sketched, and the presence of Black individuals in Rembrandt's Amsterdam. Contemporary artists including Marlene Dumas and Natasja Kensmil now join the collection, their work in dialogue with the 17th-century spaces. The house that Rembrandt lost to debt has become his most enduring studio.