The clapboarded, wood-frame, symmetrical Federal-style house was updated with Gothic Revival bargeboards, pointed dormers, and a front gable. It was built for Oliver Johnson (1784–1868), an early settler on the River Raisin, who arrived from Connecticut no later than 1818. Johnson served as Monroe County judge, having been appointed by the governor of the Michigan Territory. Federal features include the window heads, elliptical patterns in the side transom lights of the front entrance, paneled doors, carved pinwheels at the junction of the door trim, and three exquisitely detailed fireplace mantels. The house was moved in 1977 from its original location next to the courthouse to this site on the east side of the public square.