The former BNZ bank building (and its associated stone stable) was constructed in Arrowtown in 1875. The bank was built during a time of economic prosperity in New Zealand, when the rural gold rush towns of Central Otago were evolving into centres to provide services to growing rural communities. The Robert Lawson-designed structure stood as a modest representation of Victorian neoclassicism, at the end of the main street of Arrowtown, and its construction helped establish the permanence of the town. Over the years it has been altered and added on to, and now forms a part of the Lakes District Museum.