The Jonathan Gibbs House is on its original site and now numbered as 181 Spring Street. Built c.1771, it is a particularly small example of the popular eighteenth-century, two-room cottage with a gambrel roof. The house is sited end-to-the-street with the entry fronting on the side yard. There is a center chimney with fireplaces in each first-floor room and two more for the second-floor chambers. A very tight, twisting staircase rises against the chimney wall, allowing for a very tiny entry hall. There is a small one-story addition to the rear of the house that is of an early date, but not original. The house was purchased by the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF) in 1969 and restored in 1970.

Jonathan Gibbs was a housewright. He bought the land (originally part of Governor Benedict Arnold's extensive seventeenth-century holdings in the area) from Ann Mercy Brewer in December of 1771. The British List of 1777 identifies "James Brattle and four others" as living in the house. This evokes images of crowded conditions and also suggests that Gibbs built the tiny house for purposes other than his own habitation. Records show that he did not sell the house until 1782, indicating that he was the owner during Brattle's tenancy.

There were several other owners between the time Gibbs sold the house in 1782 and when it was sold to John Bours in 1813. The cottage, then numbered 175 Spring Street, remained with the Bours family until 1852. The Gibbs House was part of a three-building NRF purchase on Spring Street, including #175 (Samuel Bours House) and #177. The house at #177 was torn down to provide more space for the two others.