HOUSE AND FORMER BAKERY

The property at 4 Weeroona Avenue, Bendigo, comprising a Victorian residence and former bakery operated by German migrant Wilhelm Frederick Beischer dating to 1858 is significant. The contemporary addition at 4 Weeroona Avenue is not significant.

The house and former bakery at 4 Weeroona Avenue is of local historical, aesthetic and associative significance to the City of Greater Bendigo.

The house and former bakery established by German migrant Wilhelm Frederick Beischer in 1858 is a rare early example of a bakery industry at Bendigo. From 1878 the property combined a residence with the bakery business and shows the integration of work and home in small industry in the nineteenth century. A small timber house (circa 1930s) and garage at the rear of the site are of interest mainly for their association with the bakery. (Criterion A)

The bakery is aesthetically significant as a substantial random rubble sandstone structure, and for its large cast iron fronted ‘Acme’ baker’s oven. The bakery has been altered through its integration with the house, with the addition of a side verandah, changes to windows and doors, and internal alterations, but the stone walls still demonstrate the structure and extent of the bakery. The house, dating from 1878 and featuring sash windows with sidelights, a panelled front door with top light, verandah and a pair of face brick chimneys, is significant as for its association with the bakery and as a contributory element in the streetscape. (Criterion E)

The site also has long associations with the Beischer family, who passed down the business in a consistent chain of ownership to 1957, lasting almost 100 years. The Beischers were well known in the Bendigo community and their bakery was an important industry in Irishtown. (Criterion H)