"[2]: 2  Fern Cottage is the fourth and final home of pioneers Zipporah (1838–1929)[3] and Joseph Russ (1825–1886)[3]: 47–50 [4][5] and their 13 children.

[12] With partners Searls and Putnam they also operated the largest store in the county[11] in addition to saw mills and a slaughter house in 1864.

[7]: 9  The portion of the land holding that was the Fern Cottage ranch was 640 acres purchased from three previous owners between 1865 and 1866.

[19] An 1882 lithograph which appeared in Elliott's History of Humboldt County California[20] shows this addition with a shed-style attachment at the rear, possibly a woodshed.

Letters from Russ daughters who were studying in Europe in 1897–1898 make reference to the construction of the "Grandchildren's Wing," believed to be this final addition.

At the northern end of the west side, there is a small, gabled section which contains the kitchen with the cook's room above.

[23] It "today contains a collection of Victorian era furnishings and artifacts alongside slightly more modern Arts and Craft pieces.

There are no cabinets since the adjoining pantry provides work space, storage and the (natural) refrigerator; the original wood box stands against an interior wall; and a wooden drainboard surrounds the single sink.

[26] Eating arrangements changed in 1880 with construction of the dining room for the family and the Sanctum (a separate men's boarding house) for the hired help.

Other interior, lower-floor changes include the back hall sitting area where the original kitchen was located and which was used as a dining area before construction of the dining room in 1880, and Mr. Russ' office, created out of a corner of the kitchen and the east-side verandah.

[2]: CS 3, page 3 In the upstairs, the four bedrooms of the main house are pleasant, simply furnished rooms with original furniture.

Married daughters returned with their large families for extended periods to live at Fern Cottage.

A gabled, one-story addition with a porch houses the laundry room and storage shelves where the canning was put away yearly.

In 1910, a 40,000 gallon cement reservoir was built to furnish water for Fern Cottage on a hill nearby.

[36] It was last lived in by a family member in 1972[2]: CS 11, page 5  before becoming a non-profit house museum and events venue.

The bottomlands supported livestock and produced feed; the gardens, orchards, and chicken house filled the larder; and the forested hillsides provided fuel and food.

"[2]: 2 As documented by the National Register of Historic Places, "Surrounding Fern Cottage is a [four-acre] yard, fenced off from the orchards and agricultural lands, and bordered by several tree species including elms brought to Humboldt County by Joseph Russ after a visit to his native Maine in 1876.

Behind Fern Cottage, this structure has a shed roof and two, angled openings on the south where wood is stored.

On the north side of this building is a covered area with shelves and ventilated boxes for storage of apples.

As documented in the Ferndale Enterprise, October 1889, "Will Russ and others drove down 120 head of cattle from Redwood [ranch] to be fattened at Fern Cottage where large quantity of hay raised this season.

"[43] By March, the Ferndale Enterprise reported, "Ira Russ drove a band of beef cattle to Eureka.

Extending across the front of the yard along Centerville Road is an ornate wooden fence consisting of solid top and bottom pieces connected by slats interspersed with arrow-head shaped decoratives extending from both top and bottom boards.

On the south side of Centerville Road, the garage has a sloping shed-type roofline with a shingled mansard front above sliding doors on the east facade.

South of the road and west of the creek, the Sanctum is a 1+1⁄2-story, gabled-roof farmhouse with a one-story rear extension.

South of the truck shed is a small, gabled building with exposed rafter ends and wide, vertical board siding.

Adjacent to the storehouse is a long, low gable-roofed building with sliding doors on the north side whose estimated construction date is the 1940s.

The worn-down boards of the mangers and chewed feed boxes attest to the horses which stood in the wood floored stalls.

South of the sheep barn, this structure has a gabled roofline, corrugated metal roof, exposed rafter ends under the eaves and a fence-style wall on the west which is open at the top.

A cabin nearby, [no longer standing,] housed the hired man who cut, split and stored 100 cords of wood a year for the stoves in Fern Cottage and the Sanctum.

[56] The extensive archives of Fern Cottage have provided documentation, including photographs, for historical publications.