The facility and the collection at Kjerringøy is of a special nature, as all the buildings and the main part of the collection belong together. The collection and the site is an almost complete North-Norwegian trading post, with 15 buildings, 23 shelf meter archives and over 8000 items, which largely followed the transfer to the Nordland County Museum in 1959.
The 15 buildings were protected by the Ministry of Culture and People's Information on 30th of May 1942. The protection then included the following buildings: the main house, mastua, kramboden, station building, the firehouse, litjnaustet, grishuset, bakery, stabburet, stable, basement, smia, stornaustet , the seaside houses Rødsjåen, Grønnsjåen and Heimbrygga.
Kjerringøy is an important building culture monument, and is the best-preserved facility of this type in northern Norway. The entirety of the building environment and assembly contribute greatly to the trading post's cultural heritage value.
The trading post's building history is largely known through, among other things, fire tariffs. The main building, the wing building and kramboden is listed by Jens Nicolai Ellingsen in the years 1830 to 1854. Some buildings are listed by his father-in-law Christen Sverdrup, father of Anna Elisabeth Ellingsen. This applies at least to Heimbrygga, the stable, the firehouse and possibly parts of the farmhouses.
The trading post's buildings are as they stood during the great ages of the 1800s. The only houses of the place that did not participate in the sale in 1959 were those located outside the trading post, along the outskirts and on other islands; summer farm, new farm (Zahlfjøsen), two big boat docks, two breweries and a little fish oil steamery. The buildings on the site, photographed between 1865 and 1900, are the same as today is preserved at Kjerringøy. The houses have undergone small or large restorations over the years. Both the exterior and interior are maintained on antiquarian principles and contains several interesting details, as well as their greatest value which is represented by the complete cultural environment they collectedly make.
