After tragedy, Idaho couple makes fresh start in Macon with new French-style bakery

When fire destroyed the home of a North Idaho couple a year ago Thursday, the devastation was overwhelming. But as the smoke cleared, Janette and Parker Fife began to see an opportunity rise from the ashes.

Parker, a veteran who’s trained as an emergency medical technician and paramedic, had always dreamed of opening a bakery, and Janette was ready to leave her job as juvenile corrections officer and try something new.

Both were tired of snow and winter weather and longed for a place in the sun.

A blessing in disguise

The fire proved to be a catalyst for good change — a blessing in disguise, Janette Fife said. Nov. 30, the couple opened the Homestead Bakery and Coffee at 3780 Northside Drive, Suite 150, in north Macon.

“He and I have both really just wanted to live just down to the basics,” she said. “We really value community and a sense of unity.

“So for us, Homestead is kind of going down to the roots, going down and building a community where everybody is welcome in that we are able to be united through food and coffee... Homestead is just kind of an idea of us being able to achieve that dream.”

Freshly baked

Opened from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Homestead offers “savory, sweet, and freshly baked goodies ... made in-shop with fresh ingredients,” according its website. Parker Fife is the baker.

“My husband likes to describe the bakery side as a French-pastry inspired bakery, so he has a lot of the chocolate croissants,” Janette Fife said. “He really values those types of pastries and hopes to expand more into the bread making.

“The coffee shop I felt was just a great addition to the pastry. You are able to enjoy these delicious treats with coffee.”

The bakery also has a variety of bagels and offers both breakfast and lunch.

The store also touts its Red Bull Fusion drinks.

“It is an energy drink and we have about 30 different flavored syrups that we can mix into those fusions to kind of get the perfect balance of fusions and energy,” she said. “We personally are super addicted and enjoy these drinks from the North.”

The couple moved to Middle Georgia in January and had planned on opening a bakery in March, but ended up postponing the venture due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We weren’t sure it was the right call, so we stopped looking for a place,” she said. “And then we just ended up falling into this location that we are currently at ... I think after all the waiting we decided to hit it full force,” she said.

‘Our little baby’

The Fifes did the remodeling, renovations, painting, everything, themselves.

“It really has been our little baby,” she said.

The couple looked at other sites, including in Warner Robins, before settling on their current location.

“It’s really a very lively atmosphere of just all the local shops around us,” she said. “It just has a good, alive feeling, and I felt like we would fit right in that upbeat atmosphere.”

Four of the first five days they were open, they sold out of all of their baked goods.

“We never expected this to go as big as it has, but we are welcoming it and open to change and improvement ... We really just want to serve Macon the best that we can,” she said.

This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.