Believed to be the first two-story brick house built in Southern California, the 1857 Whaley House has served as a residence, theater, a place for formal balls, as a courthouse and where there was a fight for a county seat. In 1857 when Thomas Whaley built the house, the cost was $10,000.
The house now showcases restored period furnishings, as well as a 1860 life mask of Abraham Lincoln. The museum/house is open daily except for holidays.