Bateman House was the work of noted architect Frederick J. Bateman, who was Dalhousie Town Engineer during the late 1930s and the 1940s. Prior to designing and building this residence in 1940, Bateman had planned and constructed the Dalhousie Town Hall and had done the concrete paving of Dalhousie's main streets.

Allegedly, this Tudor Revival-style building was modelled after a French chateau Bateman saw while fighting overseas in World War I. However, what makes this structure particularly notable is its unusually extensive use of concrete, a trademark of Bateman's style. The walls of the building, both on the interior and the exterior, consist of concrete slabs ranging from 20 to 30 cm thick. In order to support these heavy loads, the concrete main floor was cast with train rail reinforcement. Additionally, though the exposed interior support beams appear to be made of wood, close inspection shows they are actually built from painted concrete.