Several buildings were on the site in the Middle Ages: a dwelling with a storage floor on top, and granaries. They were all brought under the same roof only in the 18th century. The owners were always citizens of great renown – town councillors, council secretaries and merchants.
The building has been reconstructed for several times. The basement that follows the building traditions of the 14th and 15th century still has some details typical of medieval Tallinn: beam ceilings covered with flagstone, remnants of the calorifier heating system, a well and a small fireplace.

Several construction details bear dates about the renovations in the 15th and 16th centuries: 1503 on the corner pillar of the mantled chimney, 1513 on the basement portal. The panelling of the wooden wall in the diele, the main portal and twin windows in the fa̤ade date from the same time. The shape of the windows facing the yard was changed in the 17th century and all the buildings on the site were conjoined under the same hipped roof in the 18th century. This is when the wooden ceilings and doors with rococo and baroque paintings were made, as well as the stucco ceiling with rococo decorations on the first floor and the baroque staircase in the diele appeared. The division of rooms in the museum corresponds to that of a medieval dwelling: the most important room was the hall Рdiele Рon the street side of the building. Its barred windows had hewn frames, inside which there were small square or rhombic panes of glass in tin frames. In the back corner of the hall, inside the foot of the mantled chimney, was the kitchen of the household.

The entrance hall, locally called the diele, was the most important room in a medieval dwelling. It was the place to work in, to make business deals and to keep goods. Even now you can see one of the owners – Hans Viant – sitting at his desk and checking his ledgers. The Viants owned the house almost the whole 16th century. Hans Viant's name can also be seen on the interior portal of the door leading to the basement.

A door from the hall led to the living room (dornse). As a rule, it was the only room that could be heated. The heating was provided by the hot air heating system in the basement. The vaulted brick stove was covered with stones, that in their turn were covered by a flagstone plate with round holes in it. When the stove was being heated, the holes were closed and the smoke went into the chimney. When the firewood had burnt, the register was closed and the holes opened to let the warm air into the living room. Another door with the above-mentioned interior portal in the living room led to the basement.
Storage rooms were situated above the hall and the living room. There were no windows on this floor. A winch was used to haul the goods up to the storage rooms that had a trap-door towards the street on every floor.
The edifice was reconstructed to suit the museum in 1963-65. The present looks date from the renovations in 1997-2000.