John Sanford Edmiston was the youngest son of Zeb and Eunice Edmiston. He built this house with his wife, Alice Lee Lacey Edmiston, in the Queen Anne style with Eastlake influences, characteristic of the Victorian era.

John attended Cane Hill College, graduating in 1876, and after graduation taught at the institution. The family later lived in Sebastian County and Texas before returning to Cane Hill, where John ran the Edmiston Brothers General Merchandise Store with his older brother James. John served as president of the Cane Hill Canning and Evaporating Company. Their primary product was apples. Some were canned, but most were dried, as they were easier to ship. John was also the vice president of the Bank of Cane Hill. John retired in 1908 due to health reasons and moved to Washington, D.C., where he died in 1916.

The John Edmiston House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 on its architectural merits as an outstanding example of a late-nineteenth-century residential structure and its historical association with the prominent and influential Edmiston family. The facade of the house is a mixture of siding, horizontal weatherboard on the first floor, and imbricated shingles in decorative patterns on the second story. The house’s Eastlake-influenced wrap-around porch, cupola, and other richly decorated elements make this house a distinctive addition to the historic landscape at Cane Hill.