Place: Oldfield, Kirby Gardner Building / The White House
Address: 234 Portage Avenue (Map)
Constructed: 1909
Architect: J. D. Acheson
This building was constructed in 1909 for Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner, now Oldfield, Kirby, Esau.
The company was created by John H. Oldfield, Walter T. Kirby and William Gardner, three men who came to Winnipeg at various points in the 1870s and began their own real estate and investment firms in the following decade. (The company officially traces its roots back to 1881.)
In 1905, Oldfield and Gardner joined forces with W. T. Kirby establish an instantly respected firm of real estate, insurance and investment brokers with a residential rental agent / building management division.
Initially, Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner operated from 391 Main Street but a larger, more opulent headquarters would soon be built.
Architect's drawing, Aug. 21, 1909, Winnipeg Free Press
It was announced in April 1909 that the firm had hired architect J D Atchison to design a five-storey headquarters just a block from Portage and Main adjoining the Dominion Post Office.
Atchison was one of the city's most prolific and popular architects, having designed hundreds of buildings here in the early 1900s. He began his practise in Chicago and this was his first high-profile commission since relocating it to Winnipeg.
When the building's design was finally released in August it was just two storeys in height with a mezzanine. It could be that it was designed so that additional storeys could be added at a later date.
The most impressive thing about the building, which cost around $40,000 to construct, is its facade.
It is in the Neo-classical design with its Greek columns and large pediment. Atchison's Chicago roots show by his choice to clad it entirely in intricately patterned, cream-coloured, terra cotta manufactured in his home city.
By the 1960s, Oldfield, Kirby, Gardner was primarily a real estate and insurance firm with a staff of about 60. In 1964, it relocated to modern premises at 55 Donald Street. In February 1979, its real estate wing merged with A. E. LePage - Melton Real Estate of Toronto. It was part of a national trend in the 1970s to create large, nation-wide real estate firms.
The company still exists as an insurance company, though it announced in 2020 that it would be changing its name to The Standard, one of its global insurance partners. Another old corporate name from Winnipeg's history is set to disappear.
In 1965, North West Trust moved into the main floor space and rented offices on the second floor to an architecture firm. It merged with Canadian Western Bank in 1994 and in 2003 moved to a more modern premises one building to the east.
In April 2004, Michel Fillion and a partner purchased the building and applied for an historical listing to allow them to access heritage restoration funding. In October, the building was given a Grade II listing.
The first job was to restore the cracking terra cotta facade. From there, it was a two-year renovation of the main floor banking hall and the upstairs office space. A 2007 Free Press article quotes the Fillion as estimating that the work could cost as much as $2 million. (The building was rechristened The White House for his former residence at Brandon University.)
In the summer of 2007, Fillion opened 234 on Portage an upscale spa on the main floor and mezzanine while the upper floor was converted into his personal office and residence. In 2018, the main floor became a laser surgery clinic.
In 2020, Fillion put 234 Portage up for sale for $3.5 million.
Related:
My 2009 photo gallery of 234 Portage
234 Portage Historic Building Report City of Winnipeg
Inside The White House with Michel Fillion CBC News
A Terra Cotta Tour (pdf) Winnipeg Architecture Foundation
Just letting you know that the White House now has an Aqua Lazer clinic with Dr. Gdih he is an amazing eye doctor he moved in Jan of 2018
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