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Occupants/Owners | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
Located on the back-lot of 551-559 Osborne Street in Winnipeg, on property owned by Harold John Smith, is a 1½-storey brick building commissioned in 1914, which may have been designed by Samuel Frank Peters owing to similar structural elements from other buildings designed in 1909 and 1911 by Peters for Smith. The building was constructed at a cost of about $3,000 and it served as additional space for the bakery storefront of Farish and Lamburn, tenants at 553 Osborne Street within one of the five adjacent storefronts owned by Smith. After Smith died in 1941, ownership passed to his wife Alice who owned the properties until her death in 1943.
James Alexander Farish (1886-1970) and Albert E. Lamburn (?-?) established a registered partnership under the name of Scotch Bakery at Winnipeg on 14 November 1912. They operated stores at 567 Portage Avenue and 553 Pembina Street [now Osborne Street]. Farish was born at Maxwelltown, Scotland on 30 October 1886, son of Francis John Farish and Mary Jolly. He immigrated to Canada in late 1911 or early 1912 and settled at Winnipeg where he married fellow Scot Mary Margaret Steven on 30 August 1912. They had four children: James Alexander Farish (1913-2001), Francis John “Frank” Farish (1919-?), Edith Mary Farish (1921-?, wife of William Long), and Nancy Farish (wife of William McBeth). The family later resided at 260 Ashland Street. Around 1924, Farish joined Picardy Limited, working his way up becoming production manager of the parent company and its subsidiaries across western Canada in July 1946. He retired around 1950 and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia where he died at Kensington Private Hospital on 27 July 1970. His body was returned to Winnipeg for burial in the Elmwood Cemetery.
The bakery operated here until around 1917 when the building was used briefly (c1918) by the Salvation Army as hall quarters for their local corps before being used again as a bakery by The P & B Cash Stores grocery chain (c1919-1920). During the 1920s, it was used as an automotive garage by four different businesses and a garage door (since removed) was installed along the building’s east frontage. Two of those occupants were The Morley Garage (established 27 April 1925 by Walter Scott MacWilliam) and, later, Boag & Kennedy (established 15 June 1928 by George Henderson Boag and Charles Bruce Kennedy). The building then stood unoccupied throughout the 1930s before reprising its function as an fleet maintenance garage for Sparrow Brothers (c1940-1943) and a carpentry shop run by Jack L. Marr [Superior Wood Workers] (c1945-1949) to round out the 1940s.
For the next 17 or so years, it was occupied by Canadian Glass Works (c1950-1967) before serving as home to a furniture manufacturing enterprise and was briefly a studio (1969) for the Czech-born metal-working artist Otakar “Otto” Suchy. In January 1970, the space became home to Fairwind Sailboats Limited, a vendor of wood-hulled and fibreglass watercraft who operated here into the early 1970s. It was then used as work and manufacturing space (1970s-1983), and later as storage space (1983-c1987) by Fort Rouge Plate & Auto Glass [renamed in 2009 as Fort Rouge Glass Limited], which operated originally at 555 Osborne Street (1968-1970s), then moving their quarters to Morley, before expanding to 380 Osborne Street (1983-2018). In 2018, the company relocated to much larger facilities at the Winnipeg outskirts in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald. The late 1980s through mid-1990s saw the space again be home to two autobody shops followed by a recording studio in the late 1990s.
The building lay dormant from around 1999 until 2009 when it was purchased by Good Guy Builders Group as part of an acquisition which included the neighbouring commercial block of 551-559 Osborne Street. A ground-up overhaul was initiated, including a new concrete floor pad, electrical, flooring, plumbing, heating, and cooling systems along with replacement of degraded mortar and over 1,000 bricks, along with removal of multiple paint layers over the exterior brickwork. The redevelopment and restoration process took three years to complete and saw a change to the roofline silhouette courtesy of two large dormers capped with a metal roof. Once completed, the floor space had been expanded from 1,600 to 2,770 square feet across both levels, and was named Summer House Business Centre after principal/owner Hugh Hull’s spouse, Summer.
Period
Occupant/Owner
1914-c1917
Farish & Lamburn Bakery
c1918
Salvation Army (hall)
c1919-c1920
P & B Cash Stores (bakery)
c1921-c1922
Ideal Garage
c1923-c1924
Guest Garage
1925-1928
Morley Garage
1928-c1929
Boag & Kennedy (garage)
c1930-c1939
vacant
c1940-c1943
c1944
vacant
c1945-c1949
Superior Wood Workers
c1950-c1967
Canadian Glass Works
c1968-c1969
P. G. Furniture & Frame Manufacturing
1969
Otakar “Otto” Suchy (metal-working studio)
1970-c1973
Fairwind Sailboats
c1973-1983
Fort Rouge Plate & Auto Glass / Fort Rouge Glass Limited
1983-c1984
Fort Rouge Plate & Auto Glass / Fort Rouge Glass Limited (vacant)
c1984-c1987
Fort Rouge Plate & Auto Glass / Fort Rouge Glass Limited (storage building)
c1988-c1993
Titus Auto Service
c1994-c1996
K. B. M. Auto
c1997-c1998
Unplugged Studio (recording studio)
c1999-2009
vacant
2009-2012
Good Guys Builders Group (restoration/renovations)
2012-present
Good Guys Builders Group (Summer House Business Centre)
The former Farmish & Lamburn Bakery (April 2009)
Source: Google Streetview
The former Farmish & Lamburn Bakery (April 2009)
Source: Google Streetview
The former Farmish & Lamburn Bakery (July 2023)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
The former Farmish & Lamburn Bakery (July 2025)
Source: Nathan Kramer
The former Farmish & Lamburn Bakery (July 2025)
Source: Nathan Kramer
The former Farmish & Lamburn Bakery (July 2025)
Source: Nathan KramerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.86485, W97.13493
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Harald John “Harold” Smith (1861-1941)
Manitoba Business: Sparrow Brothers / Sparrow Bros. Limited
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Smith Block (551-559 Osborne Street, Winnipeg)
Birth registrations [James Alexander Farish, Margaret Agnes Farish, Edith Mary Farish], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registrations [James Alexander Jolly Farish to Mary Maggie Stwen, Margaret Fallas Edgar to Francis John Farish], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [James Alexander Farish], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 1031/1914, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Archives of Manitoba fire insurance plans collection, Western Canada Fire Underwriters Association Series 2 Volume 4 - Winnipeg - Sheet #405, Archives of Manitoba.
Archives of Manitoba fire insurance plans collection, Western Canada Fire Underwriters Association Series 3 Volume 4 - Winnipeg - Sheet #405, Archives of Manitoba.
“The price of bread,” Manitoba Free Press, 26 November 1914, page 3.
“[Ad] Ogilvie's Royal Household Flour,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 December 1915, page 21.
“[Ad] Morley garage,” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 July 1925, page 21.
Obituary [Mrs. J. A. Farish], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 August 1940, page 2.
Obituary [Mrs. James Farish], Winnipeg Tribune, 22 August 1940, page 17.
“[Photo captions],” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 July 1946, page 7.
“[Ad] For rent 308 Morley,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 May 1969, page 49.
“But metal skill unused,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 August 1969, page 39.
“[Ad] 308 Morley Ave. off Osborne [...],” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 October 1969, page 43.
“Fairwind Sailboats Ltd announcing our new location,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 January 1970, page 41.
Obituary [James A. Farish], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 July 1970, page 35.
“[Ad] Albacore sailboat,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 October 1972, page 48.
“[Ad] Sailboats,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 July 1972, page 27.
“1600 sq. ft. brick bldg [...],” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 January 1983, page 33.
Obituary [James Alexander Farish], Winnipeg Free Press, 1 May 2001, page C7.
“From tram station to office building,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 November 2012, page B5.
Companies Office corporation documents (CCA 0059), 193 - The P. and B.Cash Stores Limited, GR6427, Archives of Manitoba.
Companies Office corporation documents (CCA 0059), 193 - 1345 - Mutual Stores Limited, GR15138, Archives of Manitoba.
Business Names registration files (CCA 0062), 4445 - Scotch Bakery, GR13054, Archives of Manitoba.
Business Names registration files (CCA 0062), 8658 - The Morley Garage, GR13054, Archives of Manitoba.
Business Names registration files (CCA 0062), 9512 - Boag & Kennedy, GR13054, Archives of Manitoba.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Henderson’s Winnipeg Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Legislative Library of Manitoba.
About Fort Rouge Glass, FortRougeGlass.
Preparation of this page was supported, in part, by the Gail Parvin Hammerquist Fund of the City of Winnipeg.
We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 13 October 2025
