Canberra man Chris Ingles, a 33-year-old geochemistry student, only bakes once a year.
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But when he does, he makes sure his gingerbread house will be a crowd pleaser.
![Canberra man Chris Ingles made a Parliament House gingerbread man for Christmas which proved a hit online. Photo: Supplied Canberra man Chris Ingles made a Parliament House gingerbread man for Christmas which proved a hit online. Photo: Supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/8454889f-60f7-4538-bc37-1bc3b5e9e0cd/r0_0_2000_1125_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
This Christmas he built the ultimate Canberra monument - Parliament House - proving a hit on Twitter among #auspol fans.
"I do it mostly for my mum and sister every year because they really enjoy it," he said.
![Mr Ingles had to call in a friend's help with the trigonometry calculations. Photo: Supplied Mr Ingles had to call in a friend's help with the trigonometry calculations. Photo: Supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/10c9a17e-e04b-4c8d-a393-54e976eb0ba0/r0_0_2000_1125_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The process was an engineering feat, even calling on a friend's help with the trigonometry calculations to make sure all the pieces fitted together like a glove.
He made sure the load bearing pieces had a bit more structural integrity to them, the secret being to add more flour.
"I started by looking at a lot of pictures of Parliament House, then broke it down into basic shapes and made templates for them," Mr Ingles said.
He jumped on Twitter on Christmas Day - which he joined mainly to talk about football - and shared it with his 30 followers.
![Several people wanted to know where the fence was. Photo: Supplied Several people wanted to know where the fence was. Photo: Supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/4df4c023-453d-4c0b-a29b-3b0e91b8d08e/r0_0_2000_1125_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It was soon re-tweeted almost 70 times and liked 269 times.
"There's a lot more people on Twitter than I realised," he said.
![The gingerbread pieces are usually a mix of plain, rum and vanilla. Photo: Supplied The gingerbread pieces are usually a mix of plain, rum and vanilla. Photo: Supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/9c483046-f69c-4ec5-a9ec-f78a8cf76e7a/r0_0_1500_2000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I didn't think this many people would be interested."
Some noticed the house did not include the controversial new fence in construction - a very Canberra topic.
Mr Ingles contemplated adding it, but with mostly scaffolding visible during a visit to scope out the site he decided to give it a miss to keep the Christmas cheer.
The gingerbread pieces are usually a mix of plain, rum and vanilla and quickly devoured by family.
Mr Ingles said he is working his way through Canberra's monuments - in previous years taking on the Telstra Tower.
He is open for suggestions for next Christmas.
"I want something big, tough and difficult!" Mr Ingles said.