Bernhard Museum Complex

The Tour with docents was fascinating. I especially enjoyed the house with the furnishings and thinking about all the families and people who lived in the house or visited when it was an inn. Be sure to notice the papier-​mâché-​dog candy dishes in the office room. I plan on visiting again it’s a great place for families be sure to bring the kids. Thank you for preserving places of the past for us to learn about.

My sister and I stop here every time we’re in Auburn. The tour guides are amazing like Sharon mentioned they really seemed excited to share the history of the home & surrounding area. I love how all the rooms are set up it’s like stepping back in time

This museum was excellent! It has a lot of history. Our docent, Addah, was very knowledgeable and helpful. She happily answered any questions and even added more information that she thought we might find useful. I will definitely come back because the wine house was closed so I was not able to tour it.

I loved everything about this place! We walked from Old town to this wonderful farmhouse and were greeted with volunteers in turn of the century outfits. The ladies were all very informative of the history of this farmhouse and seemed to really enjoy talking about the people who used to live and work there. If you’re in this area, this is a must see.

My family stopped in Old Town Auburn on the way to Tahoe and we decided to go into the Bernhard Museum. It was an 1800s home filled with period furniture. The tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable about the family and operation of the home. My girls are 7 and 4 and were intrigued by the way people lived more than 100 years ago. We did have to keep a close eye on them because the house is filled antiques and the tour takes you right through the middle of everything.
You can tour the home in less than an hour. There are also wagons and carriages on site to view as well as a winery. You can’t get too close to the vehicles but they are cool to look at.

I went with my daughter’s school here for a 3^rd Grade field trip & let me tell you it is definitely a worth while experience! It was so much fun to dress up with her like it was really 1889, pack lunches in baskets, drink out of mason jars, & eat on the hillside.
On the day of training (you have to train to be a volunteer to go with your child on this trip, for about a half hour a week before the actual trip) it was wonderful to tour the inside of the farm house (they let you tour on your day of training instead of when your child got to tour it on the field trip, because you were working at your station). The antiques that filled the home made you really believe that you were reliving 1889 & the tour guides of course made it a wonderful, educational experience for everyone.
The only thing I wish is that they had more volunteers! It was fun to be able to dress up & help in the different stations: laundry, baking, crafts, woodworking, or leather. But I think we all would have had a grander experience if the Bernhard volunteers would have been demonstrating for us, instead of us parents doing it. Someone with the depth of knowledge of the history to make it come alive… instead of me or a parent who knows very little, trying to give our children the full 1889 experience.
And I would have liked to have been with my child the entire time & toured with her, instead of seeing her mainly at lunch & when she attended my station.
But other than that it was a wonderful experience! Hey Auburn, lets have some more volunteers at this museum! If I didn’t live so far away from it, I just might!
It gave me a whole new appreciation for museums as living history, & I will definitely be checking out more of them with my family in the future!

Doesn’t get any better! I’ve been on two field trips here with our school in the last five years. We dressed like pioneers and pretended to be pioneers for an entire day. The folks who work here are so nice and do a great job at making sure everyone has fun and learns a lot too. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

The Bernhard house is furnished as it was in the period when the Bernhard family occupied the home. The tour guides are very knowledgeable and always willing to answer any questions you may have. Plus, all museums in Placer County are free!

The house and grounds are beautiful, even more so after you see the pictures of what it looked like just ten years ago! The house has a lot of fascinating artifacts, including what is basically a human litter box in the main bedroom. OH, there’s also some awesome framed Victorian hair decorations and other such neat things.