The Museum House of Sucre occupies the colonial mansion that belonged to Field Marshal Antonio José de Sucre, the Venezuelan-born military commander who defeated the Spanish royalist forces at the Battle of Pichincha in 1822 and secured Ecuador's independence. Sucre was Simón Bolívar's most capable general and is one of the most important figures in South American history; he is buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral just a few blocks away.
The house has been preserved with much of its original furniture and furnishings intact, giving an unusually complete picture of upper-class colonial domestic life in early 19th-century Quito. Sucre's personal effects — military uniforms, weapons, correspondence — are displayed alongside portraits and documents relating to the independence campaign. The house itself, built around a central courtyard with a fine carved wooden balcony, is a good example of the aristocratic colonial architecture that characterised Quito's elite neighbourhoods.