Coming into the Dickens House Museum, the visitor may well feel the atmosphere of the house. Great care was taken to retain its character, especially on the ground floor and on the stairs, whilst making more obvious adaptations for the museum on the first floor. The right-hand side of the building, thought to be Tudor, was once a cottage facing towards Dumpton. The archway in the hall was the entrance to the cottage and the old winding stairs beyond. The left-hand side is judged to be Carolean (James II - Queen Anne). The whole was joined and re-fronted at the end of the Georgian period with the early Victorian crinoline balcony added later.

Starting in the front room you will find items that once belonged to Charles Dickens, and the pictures displayed there are of his time. The mahogany sideboard, sold by Charles Dickens in 1855 to John Thomas Green (a solicitor), was bought by the Tattam family in 1919, and left to the town, as was the fine collection of prints by H.K. Browne (Phiz), one of Charles Dickens principal illustrators.

Over the years items have been presented to Broadstairs, the museum and also to the Dickens Fellowship. These items include the writing-box, a gift to Dickens from John Forster, his lifelong friend and biographer. Pride of place might well go to the letters written by Charles Dickens from or about Broadstairs. They extol the virtues of "Our English Watering Place" and urge his friends to join the household at the seaside.

The next room has more Dickensian memorabilia and opens into the gift shop. After leaving the shop at the far end, immediately on the left is the archway that was the doorway of the Tudor cottage. Beyond are the two rooms, which have been rebuilt. In the first room are commemorative items as well as some later illustrations of Charles Dickens' characters. In the far room the display features 'Old Broadstairs' and a large panorama of the London from Charles Dickens' childhood.