The museum is located at 5, Kuznechny Pereulok, next to a historic food market and a few minutes' walk from the landmark Church of the Vladimir Icon, where the writer and his family used to worship. Dostoevsky had briefly rented lodgings in the building in his youth, and returned with his family in 1878, residing there until his death in 1881. The heart of the museum is a reconstruction of the Dostoevsky family home carried out in the late 1960s and based on the original architect's plans and the recorded reminiscences of the writer's peers.

The rest of the museum houses an atmospheric display - renewed in 2009 - devoted to Dostoevsky's literary life, as well as temporary art exhibitions. Attached to the museum is also a small theatre used to host conferences, poetry readings, and performances by some of the most respected smaller drama companies in St. Petersburg.