1898 – Great West Saddlery Warehouse, 114 Market Ave, Winnipeg

This brick warehouse was designed and constructed in 1898 by James McDiarmid, in a restrained Romanesque Revival style and with additions and alterations by later architects including door surrounds. Constructed at an estimated cost of $40,000 for businessman Elisha F. Hutchings. At its peak it was said to be among the world’s largest producers and distributors of harnesses, saddles and related leather goods with all floors being used for different business purposes.

The basement was devoted to his firm’s major product, horse collars, with offices on the ground floor, along with shipping and receiving areas. The upper floors were used for storage and manufacturing of boots and shoes, saddles, cases, and other leather products. To accommodate the firm’s growth, Hutchings expanded his four-storey 1898 warehouse to the east and then upward before building another outlet across the street in 1911. The Great West Saddlery Company continued to occupy the building until 1962.

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