Constructed in circa 1919, Johnston House is a visually appealing example of a small suburban residence of Queen Anne-influenced design in Gisborne. The single-storey, timber residence was erected as a long-term family home for accountant Heath Johnston and his wife Millicent. Potentially reflecting the professional background and social aspirations of its owners, the dwelling incorporates a number of features that are more commonly associated with larger homes of the period, such as a domed corner turret and front portico. As well as its architectural and aesthetic values, it is significant as one of a group of residences within the immediate neighbourhood that reflect variation in architectural style and social status in early twentieth-century suburban Gisborne.

Tūranganui-a-kiwa, now known as Gisborne, has a long history of Māori occupation. The earliest European settlers moved to the area in the 1830s and the government laid out the town of Gisborne in 1870. Located immediately to the east of the township, the Kaiti Block remained in Māori ownership before it was partitioned in 1888. With the establishment of new industries in the region at the end of the nineteenth century, the population of Gisborne grew and there was increased suburbanisation of the land around the outer fringes of the early town, including at Kaiti. After a number of subdivisions, Heath Ingles Johnston purchased a ‘quarter-acre’ residential section on Harris Street in 1915, the same year he married Millicent Kathleen Norman. Johnston House appears to have been built in 1919, shortly after the end of the First World War (1914-1918), at which time construction costs were rising.

Johnston House occupied almost the full width of the section. Its design was strongly influenced by Queen Anne Revival architecture, which was primarily known for its homely aesthetic and use of architectural details from a wide range of English architectural traditions. Queen Anne elements at Johnston House include a low tower at one corner and a projecting bay window at the other angle, collectively flanking a wide central verandah and portico. The domed tower is similar in aspects of its design to a larger example on a grand 1912-13 house with Queen Anne style architecture on the same street, built for a more established financial professional (List No.3515, Category 2 historic place). Other Queen Anne elements at Johnston House included tall chimneys with rough stucco render, imitation half timbering on the side gables and a second projecting bay on the south side. The interior of the house had an asymmetrical floor plan, including three bedrooms and an internal bathroom around a central hallway which led to the back of the house. An attached laundry and water closet were accessible from the back porch.

During the 1920s, Johnston evidently worked as an accountant for Dalgety and Company, a prominent stock and station agency based in Australia and New Zealand in the early twentieth century. The Johnstons occupied the house until Heath’s death in 1977, during which time a number of modest changes were made to the property. A potentially early outbuilding was located at the rear of the property by 1942, and a small extension was added to the back of the house before 1957. After the property was transferred to a new owner in 1978, the outbuilding was replaced by a larger shed and garage, and the chimneys of the main residence were also removed after 1984. In 2018 Johnston House remained a private residence. It forms one a group of residences in close proximity within the same neighbourhood, which reflect architectural and social variation in the development of Gisborne’s early twentieth-century suburbs through the construction of homes of differing size and styles for owners of varying status.