John Nairn established his market garden business at the end of College Street, as it was then, in 1893. In all, seven glass houses and other buildings were built over the years. The family business largely grew tomatoes, cucumbers and grapes. These three glass houses measured respectively 100ft by 28ft, 78ft by 28ft and 153ft by 26ft, and were claimed to be the most substantially built structures for commercial growing throughout Australasia. High pressure artesian water tanks imported from England are shown at the rear of the buildings. The business was demolished in 1958, to make way for residential growth in the Awapuni area.