Milk Shed

The Milk Shed is important for its historical, agricultural and social values, particularly for its connection to the Cameron family, a well-known local farming family, its history as part of the Guisachan Ranch, and its current use by the Central Okanagan Heritage Society.

Constructed in 1925, the Milk Shed is valued as a remaining part of the overall suite of functional agricultural buildings related to the Gilbert Douglas (Paddy) Cameron farm. One of very few early agricultural buildings still existing within the city limits and very close to downtown Kelowna, its presence provides a reminder of early agricultural land uses in this now-developed urban area. The building's form and remaining original and early building materials illustrate typical farm building construction in the region.

The Milk Shed has value as part of the historic Guisachan ranch, originally a 480-acre parcel first pre-empted in 1889, and owned by The Seventh Earl of Aberdeen, later Governor General of Canada, until 1903.

The simple, L-shaped, functional wooden building, designed and built for the storage and bottling of milk and the sterilizing of equipment, is important evidence of the size and nature of the historic dairy. The scale of the building including a cold storage room, facilitated the milk production from the Camerons’ herd of 35 Guernseys.

The building is valued for being a physical testament to the ambition of Paddy Cameron and his wife Elaine to develop a successful dairy producing facility on one of the best-known farms in the Central Okanagan. The shed is important for being a rare surviving structure from the early dairy industry in the Okanagan, and in particular the Grade A dairy farm operation of the Camerons’ that produced unpasteurized milk products, a process that involved raising cows, growing feed, bottling and delivering unpasteurized milk products, and operating a retail outlet. The building is a reminder of the Camerons’ early and ongoing commitment to the cooperative marketing movement in the Okanagan, beginning with tomatoes and carrying over into their dairy operation. In the early the twentieth century, the BC Department of Agriculture encouraged co-op marketing, particularly among dairy producers.
The Milk Shed is valued for its connection to the Cameron family who were very active in the community, both through their involvement in equestrian events, the Kelowna Riding Club headquarters being located at Guisachan beginning in 1947.

As part of a local, accessible public city park, the Milk Shed today reflects the community vision and
restoration efforts by both the Central Okanagan Heritage Society and the City of Kelowna for the Guisachan property. Used in the past as a gift shop for local artists and artisans, the building continues its community use through the residency of the Central Okanagan Heritage Society, locally active for 30 years, and whose ongoing presence in this historical park is significant.