The name refers not to an owner but to the function: an earlier wooden house and then a masonry tenement were the seat of the hereditary bailiff of Old Warsaw and of the aldermen's court.
A masonry building existed before 1505. In 1609 the City Council bought out the hereditary bailiff's office; the house remained municipal property until 1811, although the office itself had moved to the town hall in 1702.
Rebuilt in 1642–1647 by royal architect Constantino Tencalla, in 1693–1695 by Benedykt Kawecki and Józef Szymon Bellotti, and raised to three storeys in 1771. Reconstruction after 1944 (1952–1953) by Jan Bieńkowski; new facade decorations by Krystyna Kozłowska and Grzegorz Wdowicki.
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- Look on the facade for the allegories of Peace and Justice — a nod to the house's judicial past.