Sir John Soane's Museum, London

One of London's most charming and extraordinary museums, this unique residence brims with a diverse and captivating collection of beautiful and eccentric objects. Architect Sir John Soane bequeathed this remarkable house to the nation in 1837, and a visit here prompts one to wonder how such an architect, renowned and a Member of the Royal Academy, possessed such an unconventional and whimsical mind.

Amidst the Classical statues and other remarkable and odd artifacts, it's the building's interior design that sets it apart from any other museum. The house is replete with architectural surprises and optical illusions; cleverly positioned mirrors play with light and spatial perception, and at the heart of the basement, an atrium stretches upward to the roof, where a glass dome bathes the galleries on each floor in natural light. In the picture gallery on the ground floor, walls ingeniously conceal folding panels that knowledgeable curators unveil, revealing additional paintings and, most unexpectedly, an extension to the room itself, seemingly devoid of a floor yet adorned with more artwork.

Another facet of Sir John's predilection for the peculiar is found in a series of rooms in the cellar known as the Monk's Parlour. He would humorously explain that these rooms were designated for the personal use of Padre Giovanni, whose grave and headstone can be found in the garden. In truth, "Padre" Giovanni existed solely within Sir John's imagination, and the "grave" was the resting place of the family dog.

The Crypt Room, designed to resemble Roman catacombs, is replete with Roman urns, funerary busts, and, of course, a sarcophagus. Sir John's affinity for ancient structures is evident in the numerous puzzling marble bits and pieces that were salvaged from Greek and Roman ruins.