[2] Rosebank, a substantial, single-storeyed timber residence, was erected c. 1885 for well-known Townsville identities Rose and Andrew Ball.

Ball, accompanied by Mark Watt Reid and two Aboriginal stockmen, set out in April 1864 and eventually found the mouth of what later was called the Ross River.

Lying beneath the huge sandstone outcrop of Castle Hill, the location reminded Ball of Castletown, the capital of the Isle of Man, and that was what he called the place.

The Exchange had been erected in 1869 by Edward Head and was made the terminus for the Ravenswood coach service in 1870, but it was the popular Rose O'Neill who improved the hotel's reputation and nearly doubled its size in the mid-1870s.

Ball was charming and widely known, with business interests both in Townsville and on the goldfields (Ravenswood and Charters Towers), and together, he and Rose developed a large and loyal cliental at the Exchange.

That year Andrew Ball gave up the licence, he and Rose retiring from hotel work but retaining numerous Townsville business interests.

On this property Rose and Andrew Ball erected Rosebank, a large timber residence picturesquely situated overlooking a small lagoon and creek (now filled in and part of Mindham Park).

Rosebank was developed as a self-sufficient semi-rural estate, with a dairy, cowyard, chicken run, vegetable garden, stables and various storage and fodder sheds, and an underground water supply.

Rose Ball also developed a very fine flower garden and bush house at Rosebank, which were famous in the Townsville district.

[3] Mr & Mrs Douglas are understood to have resided at Rosebank from 1912, when they employed Townsville builder E Crowder to renovate the building.

Rosebank is an excellent example of a substantial, decorative, timber residence of the mid-1880s, complete with detached kitchen house, standing in the remnants of larger grounds and garden[2] The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.