The former French mission building was long used by the French Society of Foreign Missions as a representative office in Hong Kong. The three-storey structure with a basement is built of granite and red brick in a neoclassical style.
The first two-storey mansion ("Johnston House"), built in 1842, was occupied successively by different owners, including private individuals, trading companies and even the Russian consulate. The house was purchased and reconstructed in the 1870s and 1880s. The rebuilding, later commissioned by the French Mission, added another storey and changed the finish of the white plastered facade by cladding the walls with brick. A chapel was placed in the north-west corner, its domed dome dominating the rest of the roof.
The building has undergone several more renovations, but many historical architectural features can still be seen in it today. The ground floor hall, for example, with its ornate columns, wooden staircase and vaulted ceilings and graceful courtyard, is one of the finest examples of traditional Edwardian architecture in Hong Kong.
After World War II, the structure was used for a time as the temporary headquarters of the Hong Kong government. The French mission and the government signed a contract to sell the building in 1952. Since 1953, it has successively housed the Department of Education, the Victoria District Court, the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Information Services. From 1997 to the present day, the building has been occupied by the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal..
