The Johann Jacobs Museum is housed in a majestic villa with a wonderful view over Lake Zürich and the promenade. Otto Honegger built the baroque villa in 1913 as a prestigious house for the Zürich engineer and politician Dr. Fritz Ernst. The use of grey-green Ostermundig sandstone and the broad roof gave the imposingly structured building the characteristic air of a Bern country estate.

The marble room which formerly served as the entrance hall, along with the music and dining rooms and the cellar, which used to house a bowling alley with a “merry drinking corner”, have now been turned into exhibition rooms.