John Nairn was said to have the first commercial vinery in Palmerston North, called Manawatu Vineries. He purchased the land, at what was then the end of College Street, in 1893 and grew tomatoes, grapes and cucumbers commercially. The business stayed in the Nairn family until a partnership was developed with C F Robinson in 1948, and was finally sold and the hot houseses removed in 1959 to allow for residential development in the Awapuni area. In the glasshouse can be seen Stanley and Irene (later Mrs I.S. Murray) Nairn with an early employee, Harry Turnock.