The museum's Robert and Nancy Krieble Gallery, featuring 9,500 square feet (880 m2) of exhibit space and sweeping views of the Lieutenant River, designed by Centerbrook Architects, opened in 2002.

Leading artists of the Old Lyme Art Colony who stayed at the boardinghouse were Henry Ward Ranger, Edward Charles Volkert, Childe Hassam, and Willard Metcalf.

Admiringly, I beheld the broad steps surmounted by four huge ionic columns that towered to the roof and formed a magnificent adornment to the mansion's front, the handsome old doorway of which stood hospitably open.

The house's dining room, where artists would gather to debate topics of the day, became a showcase for painted wall and door panels created by the artist-boarders.

The artists who painted on the house's doors and walls were probably following a tradition imported from hostelries in the French art colonies at Barbizon, Giverny, and Pont-Aven, where many of them had visited and stayed on their own travels abroad.

[6] Artists who contributed painted panels and painted doors on the first floor of the house include Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, Henry Rankin Poore, Everett Warner, Allen Butler Talcott, William Chadwick, William Henry Howe, Matilda Browne, Harry Hoffman, Arthur Heming, Chauncey Foster Ryder, Clark Voorhees, Carleton Wiggins, and Bruce Crane, among others.

[9] Miss Florence's bedroom was her only private space in the house and is furnished today with memories of her life: books, art, gifts, and letters from many of the artists who became her lifelong friends.

In the evenings, after boisterous dinners held in the dining room or on the side porch when indoor air became too stuffy, groups retired to the parlor for music, games, and entertainment.

Behind the house there were four distinct gardens: one for herbs and produce such as strawberries, lettuce, peas, corn, and potatoes; one for roses; and two for flowers, which Miss Florence also sold to make ends meet.

[14] In July 2019, the Museum opened the Robert F. Schumann Artists' Trail, a series of walking paths, landscaping features, and native plantings around the historic site.

[15][16] The four distinct walks (the river, hedgerow, woodland, and garden) encompass 0.5 miles in length and give modern day visitors an understanding of why artists were drawn to paint en plein air on the landscape.