The UCT Irma Stern Museum is housed in Irma Stern's Cape Town home, "The Firs", on the corner of Chapel and Cecil roads, Rosebank. This house was for four decades (1928-1966) the focal point in her life. In it she painted, lived and entertained; and to it she brought collections of artworks and artefacts culled from her extensive travels in Africa and abroad. The Irma Stern Museum was inaugurated in 1971 and is administrated on behalf of her estate by the University of Cape Town.

In addition to Irma Stern's role as an artist she was a discriminating collector and her collection is internationally known and respected. The Congolese items, apart from the Buli Stool, were acquired through negotiation and bartering with the people and their chiefs. The Buli Stool, the most important item in the Congolese collection, is one of only 20 known works by this master carver from South-Eastern Zaire who was active during the early part of the century and whose works are characterised by a liveliness and elegance which surpasses any other carvings from the region.
 
The collection of European furniture dates back to the 15th Century and includes a fine oak hall table of that period, identical to the which can to be seen in Penshurst Place, Kent. Several fine pieces of 17th Century Spanish furniture are also characteristic of her personal taste.
 
Her varied collections displayed throughout the rooms of her house include Egyptian and early Greek artefacts, Buddhist art, Chinese ceramics, pre-Columbian masks, European church carvings dating from the 14th Century, as well as textiles which include Coptic weavings and various items from the East.
 
The Studio with the artist's paint brushes, palettes and paint-box, untouched since her death, is the focal point of the house. In this room her personal desk is also a reminder of the artist's presence as it displays everyday items as well as selected objects d'art.
 
No surface escaped her eagle eye and consequently doors, cupboards and window panes were painted to enhance the environment of her home and her collection. A particularly fine example of this is the Dance of Death cupboard in the Studio and the large dining room cupboard depicting The Nativity and other biblical scenes. These painted surfaces echo the style of the Omega Workshops and Duncan Grant's house, 'Charleston', in Sussex.