Hakasalmi Villa has temporary exhibitions about the history of Helsinki, with a new theme each year. The exhibitions range from the city’s musical life to the Helsinki of the movies, and from wartime moods to manor life. Photo exhibitions presenting 20th-century urban landscapes and everyday life in Helsinki are particularly popular. Alongside Helsinki nostalgia, the exhibitions offer access to the latest research data and new perspectives on the past. There is a museum shop and café Rakastan in the yard of the villa.

Hakasalmi Villa is the oldest part of the Helsinki City Museum. The museum was opened in the building in 1912. Hakasalmi Villa is located in the Töölönlahti area, next to Helsinki Central Library Oodi, Musiikkitalo and Finlandia Hall. The main building is a reminder of the villa architecture of the Empire period, of which there are only a few examples left in Helsinki. The most famous resident of Hakasalmi Villa was Aurora Karamzin, who lived there until her death in 1902. Many Helsinki residents still call the building Karamzin’s villa.