In August or September 1847 George Furber built a wharf and store on the southern bank of what was then generally called Wide Bay River.

Well born and educated, he became a hotel keeper[7] on the Macleay River near Kempsey, New South Wales from about 1843 and began a variety of business pursuits.

[1] The Aldridges settled on the northern bank almost opposite Furber's wharf, establishing a store, wharves for timber and wool trading, and the settlement's first hotel, the Bush Inn.

[1] In 1850 Surveyor Hugh Roland Labatt arrived in Maryborough with instructions to "examine the River Mary ... to suggest ... the best site or sites for the laying out of the town, having regard to the convenience of shipping on one hand and internal communication on the other ... also ... point out the spots desirable as reserves for public building, church, quay and for places for public recreation".

The site recommended by Labatt was not where settlement was already established but further east, a decision not well received by the existing settlers who had invested time and money into the original township.

Immediately, a government wharf was established at the new location able to service larger ships than was previously possible, effectively ending further development of the old town.

The Aldridges cultivated extensive and productive gardens including experimental exotic species such as sugar cane, the first grown in the area.

Maryborough's dominance as a regional centre was also strengthened by its role as the terminus for the railway line south to Gympie which was completed in 1881.

[21] They are characterised by a semi-rural grandeur brought about by an elaborate and substantial detached house of a Classical style surrounded by a large restful garden.

Powell won a competition for the design of the Toowoomba Grammar School (1875) and left the Department of Public Works to supervise its construction.

Baddow House was built by local builder Carl Friedrich "Fritz" Kinne (1844-1929), a German immigrant who arrived in Maryborough in 1871.

He was not a wealthy man by this time and when the house passed to his son Harry, who lived there with his wife Lappy and their children until his death 4 February 1910, in 1912 the Bank of New South Wales foreclosed on the property and disposed of it by auction.

[26] During the clearing of the gardens, a Canary Island Date Palm that survived from the Aldridge years was damaged in a rubbish fire.

[31] The remainder of the estate land continues to be in Crown ownership and is part of the parkland reserved for the Old Maryborough Town Site.

In this period when Maryborough was generally promoting itself as a "Heritage City" the house gained a high profile within the local community which continues today.

Local architect, Marion Graham, managed the project which included concrete underpinning, repair of rendering internally and externally, rebuilding of verandahs, and the construction of a one- storey wing to the south corner containing kitchen, garage, study, and bathroom.

The book "A Grand Passion: A memoir" by owner Anne De Lisle published in 2007 documents this period and the work undertaken and has raised the public profile of the house significantly.

[1] Baddow House is a large, two-storey Neo-Georgian residence with an extensive garden on the northern end of a ridge beside the Mary River, Maryborough.

It has a hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheets and a timber verandah with twin steel posts and decorative cast iron balustrade that wraps around the north-east, north-west, and south-west sides on both levels.

Flanking the entrance doorway and projecting onto the verandah are two octagonal bay windows rising across both levels with separate hipped roofs.

Under its own roof, the verandah wraps around to the symmetrical north-western elevation composed of three large windows and continues around onto the south-western elevation composed of one octagonal bay window and a secondary entrance via a central square-headed opening fitted with a panelled and glazed door surrounded by sidelights and a fanlight.

[1] The place, combined with surviving documentary and photographic evidence, contributes to our understanding of the way of life of wealthy families in the establishment and development of major regional towns.

Baddow House has the potential to reveal further information about domestic life of wealthy regional Queenslanders in the 1880s through an examination of the existing fabric in combination with documentary evidence.

In particular, the examination of the water reticulation system, including beehive water tanks, hand pump, and rooftop tank, which is a rare and early hydraulic system, may provide further information regarding the technical accomplishments in providing domestic services that were sophisticated for the time.

[1] Baddow House has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the effects of the 1870s-1880s economic boom on an important early regional Queensland community.

Archaeological investigations of Baddow House may inform on consumption choices and patterns of the Aldridge family before, during and after the 1870s-1880s boom period.

Baddow House is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a substantial, architect-designed Queensland suburban villa of the late 19th century.

These characteristics include: the form (detached, two-storeyed); structural materials (brick); planning of both the house (public rooms downstairs, attached rear service rooms, bedrooms on the upper floor, and verandahs) and the grounds (siting of the house overlooking the river amongst landscaped gardens); and decorative detailing and finishes (including external render, internal plaster, ornate cedar joinery, panelled doors, stained glass).

The place evokes a strong sense of grace, genteel languor, tranquillity and seclusion through its setting - a characteristic of the original design which rarely survives at other suburban villas in Queensland.

[1] It is a fine example of the work of Queensland architect, Willoughby Powell and of Maryborough builder Fritz Kinne, both skilled professionals, prominent and successful within their fields.