Whitehouse's Bakery (former), Laidley

This beautiful two-storey brick building enhances the streetscape of Laidley’s main street. The building was constructed in two phases. The bakehouse and ovens were built in 1901. The two-storey shop and dwelling, designed by Ipswich architect Martin Haenke, was built in late 1905 for Charles James Whitehouse, a local farmer, baker and confectioner. It still contains the original brick ovens. CJ Whitehouse was well-travelled before arriving in Laidley sometime after 1862, having worked in Calcutta, Mauritius, New Caledonia, Melbourne and Sydney. In 1867, he married Sarah Ann White of Laidley with whom he had two daughters and four sons. He established his own business as a baker and confectioner in 1885 – operating from a timber structure. Whitehouse leased the bakery to Edward Mann around 1897, while Whitehouse retired to his nearby farm. In 1950, the property was sold to Edward Mann’s son, Jack, after being in the Whitehouse family for sixty-five years. Over the years, the building was used as an arts and crafts space and major reconstructive work was undertaken in 2001. The building was inundated, though not substantially damaged, during the flood of January 2011.