在槟岛华人巨宅中，张弼士故居是最特出的一栋，它规模庞大，以客家堂屋为本，兼备中西建筑特色。张弼士宅邸的布局中轴对称，不过叠层为楼，成为两层“两堂两横”的大楼房宅院。两堂即上堂（正厅）和下堂（门厅），两横是指左右两边的横屋。大屋上下楼加起来共有四个堂和38间房，屋子中央有个天井，左右日月井各一。连接上下楼的是中央天井左右廊的两个大楼梯，其次是后过水廊的两个螺旋梯以及横屋头房的室内梯。堂屋和横屋皆做硬山式屋顶，山墙收粤东客家地区及潮州常见的”木星”墙头，屋顶则铺“辘灰筒瓦”，但张弼士大屋外观特别之处是正面的华丽挑檐和大片披檐。下堂的挑檐，由挑石叠砖处挑一片短檐，两端收半个木形垂脊。两翼檐廊上的披檐与挑檐一样，屋面皆做辘灰筒瓦；檐口再收绿釉瓦当和滴水。作为入口门面的挑檐，装饰尤其讲究，阳台底下之“腰堵”有精美剪粘饰，中堵为“凤凰牡丹”吉祥图样。2007年，文思古建公司受委托修复，项目包括重修屋顶瓦作、墙体壁灰、油漆、彩绘以及剪黏等等。

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is the epitome of Chinese mansions in Penang Island. The mansion is built on the spatial structure of a Hakka tang wu and imbued with a mixture of Eastern and Western architectural details. The original white wall mansion has a symmetrical plan stacked up as a double-storeyed courtyard house which comprises two main halls and two side wings. There are four halls and thirty eight rooms inside the mansion, enclosing a huge courtyard at the very center and two smaller courtyards between the side wings and the main house. The ground and upper floors are interconnected with a series of staircases in various spaces, such as the sides of main courtyard, the rear corridors and the front rooms of the wings. The main hall and side wings are topped with gable roofs with angular gable ends, tiled with terra-cotta curved and semi-circular tiles. However, the uniqueness of Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion lies at its verandah roofs which cover the front porch that precedes the main house and stretches to the verandahs of the side wings. The verandah roof is supported by a set of stone eave beams which extends from the wall. Two half gable ends terminate the roof at its ends. The ridge on top of the verandah roof is furnished with intricate jian nian porcelain art pieces with “Phoenix and Peony” being the central theme. In 2007, Wensi Heritage helped restore certain areas of the magnificent mansion, including roof tiling works, wall plaster works, paint works, decorative murals and jian nian sculptural works, et cetera.