After 800 years of rule by the Vilich monastery over the Vilicher Ländchen, Napoleon established the civil "Vilich municipality" instead in 1808. It is the origin of today's borough of Bonn-Beuel. It was not until almost a century later, in 1896, that the administration was transferred from Vilich to Beuel. The first mayor in Vilich was Leonhard Stroof (1757-1825). His residence, built around 1700/1720, is thus also the first municipal office building in today's Bonn on the right bank of the Rhine.

The Bürgermeister-Stroof-Haus reflects the condition from the beginning of the 19th century, from late Baroque to Biedermeier: half-timbering of the 18th century. The 18th century half-timbering (under "urban" plaster on the street side) with hollow tile/straw doll roof, open fireplace and flue on medieval quarry stone walls (hearth wall, well and hidden cellar vaults) and late baroque interior (Cologne stucco ceilings, wall panels, painting) with contemporary furnishings convey the official and residential atmosphere of the first Vilich/Beuel mayor.

Since 2009, the Denkmal- und Geschichtsverein has been presenting the historical and architectural monument it saved from demolition as the "House of History in Bonn on the Right Bank of the Rhine". It is a museum as well as a historical meeting, research and educational site at the same time.