Don Bank was not built between 1820 and 1830 as was previously assumed but recent research based on survey plans and title investigation conclusively establish that it was built no earlier than July 1853 and was extended in November 1854 when it is referred to by description in a contemporary newspaper advertisement for the sale of land and property on the North Shore by Mrs. Charlotte Carr.

Before completion of that sale, Don Bank was built as the intended residence of his widow, Charlotte Carr.

The building sits north of (i.e. its southern boundary abuts) a public garden and pathway which forms a pleasant green setting to it and allows pedestrian access between Npaier Street and Wheeler Lane.

[1] Neighbouring Victorian Georgian Revival style single storey identical houses are arranged in symmetrical pairs directly opposite Don Bank (at 1-7 Napier Street) forming a strong visual and contextual relationship with it.

Along with the timber-fenced Victorian garden on the Napier Street frontage, Don Bank forms an oasis amongst high rise commercial buildings.

Traffic along Napier Street is directed to the Pacific Highway to its east, a major road on North Sydney central business district.

[5][1] Don Bank's front garden is broadly a sweep of grass with various trees and shrubs dotting and edging or framing it.

Main trees comprise Californian desert fan palm (Washingtonia robusta), coastal banksia (B.integrifolia) - a large old specimen to the north, crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) and others.

[6][1] A single storey Victorian Georgian Revival style cottage of vertical fitted slab construction with lath and plaster interior walls and red cedar joinery, a wide front door with French doors opening onto a verandah across the front.

[1] The cottage is of vernacular slab construction comprising a double-pile house with gabled ends and a verandah runs the length of its front and another across most of its rear elevation.

It displays many features of the Colonial Regency style, including a symmetrical facade, four-room plan with a double pitched roof and a central valley, flat timber posts and decorative fascia boards.

This refurbishment included re-plastering of walls (in certain places), installing plumbing and constructing caretakers' quarters (toilet and kitchen at the south-west corner of the cottage).

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Don Bank, entry number 00031 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 1 June 2018.