The article describes the Johnston house, built 1851, south of Half moon Bay on Highway 1, and the Johnston brother's history. The house was once described as being the "largest and most richly furnished home on the coastside." The brothers were John, James, Thomas, and William and are said to have preferred ranching over searching for gold. Three of the brothers came to California for the Gold rush, and later, together with brother William, drove 500 cattle from Ohio to California. James built the house and lived there with aristocratic young bridge Petra de Haro of Seville, who died at 27. They had four children. The home had a walled garden, and several outbuildings including a barn, cookhouse, and a dairy. The interior was luxuriously decorated, and details of design elements are described. In its time, the house was the center of a social circle of an aristocracy of Americans and Californians. The house fell into disrepair over the years and was vandalized, yet the author remarks on the enduring sturdiness of the structure.