This three-storey brick building on Princess Street in Winnipeg, measuring 66 feet by 117 feet, was designed by the Toronto architectural firm of Darling and Pearson. It was built in 1904 by W. A. Irish and Company and the J. McDiarmid Company, as a warehouse for the Alaska Feather and Down Company, later known as the Ideal Bedding Company.
Designed as a five-storey structure, only three storeys were actually built. The front portion of the main floor contained offices and salesrooms finished with oak detailing, while the rear contained the shipping and receiving department. The upper two floors contained storage space.
The company occupied the building until 1910 when it was then used generally as a storage warehouse until 1938, when it was purchased by the Winnipeg Cabinet Factory Limited.
It later hosted a supplier of restaurant and food-handling equipment. The building was demolished in 2017 to make room for an expansion of the adjacent Siloam Mission.
Architectural drawing for the Alaska Feather and Down Building (1905)
Source: Manitoba Free Press, 4 February 1905, page 19.
Ideal Bedding Building (1938)
Source: Winnipeg Free Press, 5 December 1938, page 5.
Ideal Bedding Building (April 2017)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90406, W97.13845
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Saul and Irish Construction Company / W. A. Irish and Company
Memorable Manitobans: James McDiarmid (1855-1934)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Canadian Fairbanks-Morse Company Building / Siloam Mission (300 Princess Street, Winnipeg)
“Factories,” Manitoba Free Press, 24 November 1904, page 18.
“One of Winnipeg’s growing industries,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 February 1905, page 19.
“Ideal Bedding Co.,” Manitoba Free Press, 16 April 1906, page 4.
“New storage warehouse,” Manitoba Free Press, 13 July 1910, page 2.
“Night watchman guilty of theft,” Manitoba Free Press, 26 May 1917, page 5.
“For sale by tender,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 March 1938, page 2.
“For sale by tender,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 March 1938, page 2.
“For sale by tender,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5. March 1938, page 2.
“Winnipeg Cabinet Factory Limited,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 December 1938, page 5.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk and George Penner.
Page revised: 26 February 2024
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