It is located in the 16th arrondissement at 47, rue Raynouard, Paris, France, and open daily except Mondays and holidays; admission to the house is free, but a fee is charged for its temporary exhibitions.

Although the writer's furniture was dispersed after his widow's death, the museum now contains Balzac's writing desk and chair, his turquoise-studded cane by Lecointe (1834), and his tea kettle and a coffee pot given to him by Zulma Carraud in 1832.

The house is also notable for underlying cavities which have been identified by pottery shards as former troglodyte dwellings dated to the time of the late Middle Ages.

On July 23, 2019, the museum reopened, after work carried out on its unchanged site, with accessibility for people with disabilities, the creation of a café and a reception area and the redevelopment of the garden and the permanent route.

The journalist and writer Pierre Assouline was chosen to preside over the jury which aims to reward “a work of contemporary fiction written not 'in the manner of Balzac' but in which we recognize the Balzacian imprint on the author”.