The houses associated with Bay Area Historic House Museums are affiliated to promote better community awareness of these historic resources in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The houses showcase the breadth of history in the area: from early adobes, through Victorian mansions and farmhouses, to 20th century homes.

BAHHM membership is open to recognized local, state, and national historical landmark houses whose goal is to be open for interpretive tours in the eight San Francisco Bay Area counties i.e. Marin, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma. These properties should be operated by public or non-profit agencies, principally for the use, education and enjoyment of the general public. Appropriate uses might include: architectural interpretation, furnished historical interior tours, garden/landscape interpretation, living history programs, and historic personage interpretation. Each house will be considered individually by the association. BAHHM serves as a clearing house for information of interest to members, develops networking contacts, provides opportunity for continuing education in the fields of site management, curation, conservation, etc,. and acts as an advocacy group for historic preservation.