Originally conceived as a Federation Arts and Crafts residence by Edward Jeaffreson Jackson in 1903, the main building served as a private hospital before being purchased by the Municipality of North Sydney for its new chambers in 1925, with sympathetic extensions being completed in 1926, 1938 and 1968 to accommodate for this new usage.

[2] The new chambers building was officially opened by former Prime Minister and Member for North Sydney, Billy Hughes, on 10 July 1926, who declared that "Nothing can be got without effort - Risks must be taken, and money must be borrowed in order that we can develop this great country of ours".

In June 1937, Minnett's plans for a mirror image extension of the existing building in the same style at a cost of £12,000 were approved by council and Girvan Brothers of St Leonards were appointed contractors for the project.

[13] On its completion, Construction noted that the "design of the existing part has been continued in the new section, which contains a spacious entrance hall panelled in Queensland maple" and praised the location and setting of the chambers "where, surrounded by gardens, they have a more domestic character than is the case with some of the other recent municipal buildings.

"[13] On 10 October 1938, local member Billy Hughes officially unveiled a plaque commemorating the centenary of the township of St Leonards, which was gazetted in 1838, outside the council chambers.

[2] However, significant public opposition to the demolition of the historic council building, particularly from the North Sydney Civic Group, led to the decision to re-build the damaged portion of the Miller Street wing.

Designed by North Sydney Architect Feiko Bouman, the new building was completed by Gledhill’s Pty Ltd in 2000 at a cost of $2,900,000, and was named after a former mayor, Carole Baker.