The museum was originally the home of a pearl merchant named Mohammed bin Jassim Al Marikhi. Built in 1931, the house was constructed from marine coral stone coated with gypsum.

The building was designed to provide security, featuring fortified rooms without windows on the ground floor. The first floor was accessed via a wooden staircase, where the merchant received his guests and conducted his business transactions. Recent excavations near the house uncovered a madbasa (a traditional facility used for producing date syrup), which has now been fully restored.

The museum features an exhibition of local archaeological discoveries, including an important collection of British and Indian coins that were in circulation during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the pearl trade was at its peak.