During these early years of the Bay's use as a port, a stone jetty was constructed and a number of buildings erected to house Customs and cargo.

The Customs Station established in 1843 included a wooden hut on top of Barrenjoey from which all vessels entering and leaving the port could be observed.

[3] In 1873 it was recommended by Francis Hixson (President of the Marine Board of NSW) that a single permanent lighthouse replace the temporary Stewart Towers.

The tower base is octagonal in plan and features a number of small openings and Queen Victoria's 1880 royal cypher carved in the stone.

The circular tower rises above the base three storeys and features large stone brackets which support the gallery around the lantern.

The head keepers quarters feature verandah covered by the sweep of the corrugated iron clad roof, the decorative timber fretwork long gone.

The basement features a kitchen fireplace and courtyard enclosed by a massive rubble wall and with a privy in the southeast corner.

The semi-detached cottages essentially consist of four rooms about a central corridor with a service block and privy in the rear courtyard.

Although the acetylene gas apparatus was efficient, access to the tower for re-supply presented problems, so in 1972 the lighthouse was converted to electric operation, with a new lamp capable of 75,000 candlepower.

In 1992 Sparks published the first definitive history of that lighthouse, Tales From Barranjoey, written on a Macintosh PowerBook 100 and powered via a solar panel.

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park defines the western side of Pittwater, with West Head as the most prominent topographical feature.

The headland was once an island joined to the mainland through the formation of a tombolo (Palm Beach) at the end of the last ice age (approximately 10,000 years ago).

The lighthouse reserve is about 10 hectares (25 acres) in area, the remainder of the headland being part of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.

Black she-oak scrub covers the more exposed areas, with Bangalay forest and small rainforest patches in more sheltered parts.

These, together with associated rocky reefs and the seagrass beds in the sheltered bay, form a valuable littoral and sub-littoral environment.

[2] The Littoral rainforest at the base of the headland, includes two species considered significant, as they are uncommon in the Sydney Region – Pararchidendron pruinosum (snow wood) and Flagellaria indica (twining bamboo).

[2] Littoral Rainforest in the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions have been listed as an endangered ecological community.

This composition utilises a strong pattern of sandstone retaining walls to define the front yards of the cottages and to link the main house to the tower.

A square oil room at the base of the tower is connected to the head keeper's cottage by a covered stair with a windbreak wall integral with both buildings.

The Head Keeper's Quarters is constructed in sandstone, with timber floors and a pyramidal pitched roof of corrugated steel.

[2] The tower contains the 3.7-metre (12 ft) diameter Chance Bros cast-iron-and-copper lantern house of segmental cast iron, copper-clad dome and precast internal and external catwalks.

The light is still operational and is maintained as a navigational aid by the NSW State Government serving recreational boating in Pittwater.

The timber cottage and boat shed are located south west of the lighthouse complex, on Barrenjoey beach facing Pittwater.

It is a small timber-framed structure clad in asbestos cement sheet with concrete floor and corrugated colorbond roof.

The original optical lens supplied by Chance Bros. of Birmingham is still in use today with a focal height of 113 metres (371 ft) above sea level and a range of 35 kilometres (19 nmi).

[2] Barrenjoey Head Lighthouse was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

[2] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The lightstation is significant as an important element in the establishment of navigational aids along the NSW coast which reflects the economic development of the surrounding region.

The lightstation and the Mulhall Graves are significant for providing evidence of the changing living and working conditions of the lighthouse keepers and their families[2] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

Prominent landmark with integrated natural and cultural values, with the tower being a fine example in sandstone of a James Barnet lighthouse design.