James Johnston House — Attraction in Half Moon Bay

Set on the foothills on the edge of the City of Halfmoon Bay is the James Johnston House, a registered National Historic Building in the Saltbox style and now a museum that is open every third Saturday of the month. Admission is free.

The docents, all in period dress of the 1850s, are knowledgeable and enthusiastic story tellers, making a visit to the house enjoyable and memorable!

The house and the family that built and lived there have deep ties to the history of Halfmoon Bay and the history of America's westward expansion. James Johnston was from a Scottish family that settled in Ohio. He fought in the Mexican American War and found his fortune in the California gold rush. It was that fortune that settled him in San Francisco and then to Halfmoon Bay, where, with a dream of becoming a gentleman dairyman, he bought the expansive land (1000 plus acres) that surrounded the Johnston House, married Petra Maria de Jara, and...

Doesn't look like this place is open very often maybe a few times a year according to their website. Cannot say what it looks like inside or if it's even kept up the outside definitely needs some paint and that was only what I could see from afar. Great piece of history though too bad they didn't make it into a museum it's got a great location for that. They have a road but it's gated off with a place to walk around but signs say no trespassing so we opted to just take a pic from the gate. They do have a restroom on the parking lot and it was even open which...

This historical home is so fascinating looking at all the rooms and furniture while the docent tells us all about the house, furnishings and the life of the family that lived there as well as what life was like during that time period. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and all the interesting historical facts about life in Half Moon Bay during this...