James Johnston House, Historic house in Half Moon Bay, United States.

The James Johnston House is a two-story wooden structure featuring the characteristic roof design of saltbox architecture, where a long sloping roof extends over the back section. The building shows typical craftsmanship from the 1850s with carefully joined wooden beams and traditional construction methods.

The house was built between 1853 and 1855, making it the first wood-framed structure on the San Mateo County coast. Its construction during California's settlement expansion marks an important moment in how Europeans began establishing permanent communities along this coastline.

The house is sometimes called the "White House of Half Moon Bay." Its layout shows Californio customs: a Roman Catholic chapel and an open gallery facing a patio, while food was cooked in a separate kitchen outside the main building. The Johnston family kept quarters for travelers on the grounds.

The house stands on Highway 1 south of downtown Half Moon Bay, on the inland side of the road, with the Johnston Ranch fields around it. It is a museum and community event space, so opening depends on events; confirm before travelling. The 1976 windstorm destroyed the original structure, and the rebuilt house sits on a concrete foundation with a chimney that was not part of the 1850s building.

Inside, hand-hewn redwood timbers are joined using mortise and tenon methods, a joinery technique that shows how artisans of the 1850s actually worked. Such hand-cut and fitted timbers are rarely seen today and reveal the patience and skill that early builders required.