The historic house museum is furnished with period furniture from the late 1800s. The three upstairs bedrooms are furnished with items that belonged to the Kelly family or came from the period in which they lived in the house.
Artifacts and interpretive materials from the shipwreck of the Frolic are on permanent exhibit.
“Then and Now” exhibit, comparing scenes photographed approximately 100 years apart, portrays the Mendocino village, its businesses and surroundings. The original photographs, taken by local, amateur photographer Perley Maxwell, were printed by the Mendocino High School photography class in 2002. The students then took modern day digital images of the same location. These revealing images show how things have changed and how some things may never change.
The Native American exhibit offers a historical overview of Mendocino’s earliest residents, as well as an array of photo prints and artifacts depicting their way of life. Interpretive text on Pomo shelters, dance houses, sweat lodges, and basketry round out the exhibit. On loan from the Dorothy Byrnes Leonard Collection are examples of decorative gift and utilitarian baskets, a woven infant carrier, and a duplicate toy cradle.