Place: Ches-Way Apartments
Address: 240 Chestnut Street at Honeyman (Map)
Built: 1909 and 1937
Contractor: Wallace and Akins (1937)
The Ches-Way Apartments were built in two stages. The original building is the house located at 797 Honeyman Avenue that was built in 1909. The adjoining brick structure facing Chestnut Street was constructed in 1937.
Originally, Honeyman Avenue was called Broadway. The name was changed when Broadway was rerouted at Maryland Street to connect with Portage Avenue in 1960. The "Ches" and "Way" serve as a reminder of the original name of the intersection.
Early Residents
According to street directories of the day, the first resident of the eight-room house was John Fumerton and family in 1909. He was vice president of Thomas H. Lock and Company, a wholesale grocery business at 197 Bannatyne Avenue.
After just a couple of years, it became the family home of Alexander Calder. He owned a railway and steamship ticket agency that had been in operation since 1880. Soon after Calder moved in, it was announced that his son A. B. Calder, who had been the CPR's general ticket agent in Chicago, would return to Winnipeg to join his father's business.
Dr. Charles Hunter and family moved into the home in 1912, likely as renters. The physician taught at the U of M's Medical School and had a practice on the 7th floor of the Boyd Building on Portage Avenue. He served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps overseas during World War I and reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. (More about Hunter below.)
The final occupant of the house as a single-family dwelling was William J. Thompson and family, starting around 1919. Thompson was an accountant at the firm Geo. G. Lennox and likely rented the house.
Newspaper ads show that the mortgage for 797 Broadway/Honeyman was foreclosed on in 1924. It was put up for sale and later that year reopened as a six-suite rooming house or boarding house.
The initial round of tenants were all women: Edith Turland, Eatons employee; Mrs. Jesse Simpson, nurse; Flora Moore, milliner with a shop at 160 Stafford Street; and Helen Brown, stenographer with the provincial government.
The name "Ches-Way Apartments" first appeared in newspaper ads placed by rental agent and building owner Wallace and Akins in January 1928.
The company took out a $500 building permit to put concrete piles under the house in 1935, and in April 1937 it began construction on an extension that faced Chestnut Street. The two-storey plus basement brick structure contained nine additional suites and was connected to the house at the basement level utility space.
The Ches-Way addition was one of just two apartment blocks to have construction permits issued since the stock market crash of October 1929.
The newly expanded, fifteen-suite Ches-Way apartments began renting around September 1937.
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UPDATE December 2025: The empty Ches-Way was purchased in 2023 by architects Chris Knight and Tom Monteyne, who spent two years renovating the block.
Built: 1909 and 1937
Contractor: Wallace and Akins (1937)
The Ches-Way Apartments were built in two stages. The original building is the house located at 797 Honeyman Avenue that was built in 1909. The adjoining brick structure facing Chestnut Street was constructed in 1937.
Originally, Honeyman Avenue was called Broadway. The name was changed when Broadway was rerouted at Maryland Street to connect with Portage Avenue in 1960. The "Ches" and "Way" serve as a reminder of the original name of the intersection.
Early Residents
According to street directories of the day, the first resident of the eight-room house was John Fumerton and family in 1909. He was vice president of Thomas H. Lock and Company, a wholesale grocery business at 197 Bannatyne Avenue.
After just a couple of years, it became the family home of Alexander Calder. He owned a railway and steamship ticket agency that had been in operation since 1880. Soon after Calder moved in, it was announced that his son A. B. Calder, who had been the CPR's general ticket agent in Chicago, would return to Winnipeg to join his father's business.
Dr. Charles Hunter and family moved into the home in 1912, likely as renters. The physician taught at the U of M's Medical School and had a practice on the 7th floor of the Boyd Building on Portage Avenue. He served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps overseas during World War I and reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. (More about Hunter below.)
The final occupant of the house as a single-family dwelling was William J. Thompson and family, starting around 1919. Thompson was an accountant at the firm Geo. G. Lennox and likely rented the house.
The initial round of tenants were all women: Edith Turland, Eatons employee; Mrs. Jesse Simpson, nurse; Flora Moore, milliner with a shop at 160 Stafford Street; and Helen Brown, stenographer with the provincial government.
May 13, 1930, Winnipeg Tribune
October 22, 1937, Winnipeg Tribune
The company took out a $500 building permit to put concrete piles under the house in 1935, and in April 1937 it began construction on an extension that faced Chestnut Street. The two-storey plus basement brick structure contained nine additional suites and was connected to the house at the basement level utility space.
The Ches-Way addition was one of just two apartment blocks to have construction permits issued since the stock market crash of October 1929.
The building appears to have had a quiet existence over the decades until a fire in January 2018 caused it to be evacuated. Fire damage was limited, but there was smoke and water damage to several suites. The building never reopened.
Eventually, the Ches-way was put up for sale and in late 2022 new owners began the renovation process.
Eventually, the Ches-way was put up for sale and in late 2022 new owners began the renovation process.
The house portion received a new roof so that an attic suite could be added and the floor plan of its small suites was completely redesigned. An extension to the rear of the house acts as the utility room and enclosed fire escape for the complex.
In the brick portion, the combination of fire/water damage and sitting without heat for years meant that nothing from the original interior could be saved and the floorplan was redesigned. As the building was constructed using concrete beams and slabs, unusual for a building of this size from this era, the structure was sound.
The total number of suites in both sections was reduced from fifteen to twelve, which allowed for larger suites.
The building reopened in October 2025 under the name Chesway Apartments.
Read more about the renovations in this Free Press story and visit the Chesway website!
More on Dr. Charles Hunter
Dr. Charles Hunter was born in 1873 in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Aberdeen before coming to Winnipeg. He was a prominent physician by the time he moved to 797 Broadway (now Honeyman) with an office on the 7th floor of the Boyd Building on Portage Avenue.
Dr. Hunter enlisted to serve in the First World War with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Based in England, he quickly rose through the ranks to become a Lieutenant-Colonel. He distinguished himself with his work as an inspector of Canadian military hospitals and examined thousands of casualties as part of the military's Medical Board.
In 1917, Hunter made a presentation to the Royal College of Medicine about two English boys aged 8 and 10 who suffered from a rare form of dwarfism that was sometimes referred to at the time as "gargoyleism". That presentation led to research into the genetic disorder, and it was eventually named Mucopolysaccharidosis type II or "Hunter's Syndrome". (For more about Hunter's role, see his entry in The Man Behind the Syndrome by P. and G. Beighton, which is also the source of the above image.)
During the war, his wife, Marjorie Hunter, relocated to an apartment block, suggesting they rented rather than owned the house. It was common during wartime, when the "man of the house" went overseas, for spouses or families to relocate to smaller premises or move in with family due to the drop in household income.
After the war, Hunter resumed his medical practice until 1922, then taught at the U of M until 1933, after which he became professor emeritus. He died in March 1955 at the age of 82 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
Hunter is described in Manitoba Medicine: A Brief History as "a short, irascible Scot". A collection of his papers are at the University of Manitoba College of Medicine Archives.
Related:
For more images of the Ches-Way Apartments.
In the brick portion, the combination of fire/water damage and sitting without heat for years meant that nothing from the original interior could be saved and the floorplan was redesigned. As the building was constructed using concrete beams and slabs, unusual for a building of this size from this era, the structure was sound.
The total number of suites in both sections was reduced from fifteen to twelve, which allowed for larger suites.
The building reopened in October 2025 under the name Chesway Apartments.
Read more about the renovations in this Free Press story and visit the Chesway website!
Source: The Man Behind the Syndrome
More on Dr. Charles Hunter
Dr. Charles Hunter was born in 1873 in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Aberdeen before coming to Winnipeg. He was a prominent physician by the time he moved to 797 Broadway (now Honeyman) with an office on the 7th floor of the Boyd Building on Portage Avenue.
Dr. Hunter enlisted to serve in the First World War with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Based in England, he quickly rose through the ranks to become a Lieutenant-Colonel. He distinguished himself with his work as an inspector of Canadian military hospitals and examined thousands of casualties as part of the military's Medical Board.
In 1917, Hunter made a presentation to the Royal College of Medicine about two English boys aged 8 and 10 who suffered from a rare form of dwarfism that was sometimes referred to at the time as "gargoyleism". That presentation led to research into the genetic disorder, and it was eventually named Mucopolysaccharidosis type II or "Hunter's Syndrome". (For more about Hunter's role, see his entry in The Man Behind the Syndrome by P. and G. Beighton, which is also the source of the above image.)
During the war, his wife, Marjorie Hunter, relocated to an apartment block, suggesting they rented rather than owned the house. It was common during wartime, when the "man of the house" went overseas, for spouses or families to relocate to smaller premises or move in with family due to the drop in household income.
After the war, Hunter resumed his medical practice until 1922, then taught at the U of M until 1933, after which he became professor emeritus. He died in March 1955 at the age of 82 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
Hunter is described in Manitoba Medicine: A Brief History as "a short, irascible Scot". A collection of his papers are at the University of Manitoba College of Medicine Archives.
For more images of the Ches-Way Apartments.
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