James Alfred Cope Christie (also Cope-Christie; 12 December 1870 – 1953) was an English architect in early Johannesburg and Rhodesia.[1]
He was born and educated in London, the son of James Charles Christie and Annie Christie.[2] His father, a piano tuner, died in 1878,[3] and in 1881 James was living in the city's Asylum for Fatherless Children.[4]
Christie came to Cape in 1894. He was articled to Charles Freeman in the Cape but made his important contributions in the Rand and Rhodesia.[5]
In 1904, the Johannesburg accountant Sir Charles Llewellyn Andersson enlisted the services of Sir Herbert Baker to design his Parktown home. Llewellyn Andersson rejected Baker's designs and in 1906 his unusual house was built according to Christie's designs. The house, Dolobran is in the eclectic style and is still in the family, now home to Sir Charles' great-grandson. Christie's other contributions in Johannesburg include a house in Yeoville and a house in Waverley.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1948 New Year Honours.