In contrast to Pieter Jansz Saenredam, who emphasized architectural accuracy, De Witte was more concerned with the atmosphere of his interiors.

He then married a 23-year-old orphan, Lysbeth van der Plas, who exercised a bad influence on de Witte's adolescent daughter.

De Witte broke the contract, was sued by the dealer, and forced to indenture himself further as a result.

According to Arnold Houbraken, after an argument about the rent, de Witte hanged himself from a canal bridge in Amsterdam in 1692.

According to Walter Liedtke, de Witt's "main interest was the space itself – its light, color, sheer extent, and mood – not the architecture for its own sake"; the careful arrangement of light serves to "intensify the sensation of being within a great but at the same time sheltered space.