Description of Historic Place

Christie House, a large dwelling with distinctive rose-coloured brick cladding, is a prominent feature of the historic 13th Street residential area in downtown Brandon. Built in 1905 in the then popular Queen Anne Revival style, the 2 1/2-storey dwelling faces two well-travelled streets from its grassed and treed corner lot. The site's municipal designation applies to the exterior of the building.

Heritage Value

Christie House is one of Brandon's most impressive historic dwellings - substantial, but not overbearing; refined in its Queen Anne Revival detailing, not extravagant or ostentatious. Designed by W.A. Elliott, architect of many of Brandon's stately early residences, the house features a wraparound verandah with paired columns, complex roofline, rose-coloured brick and fine interior materials and finishes, all of which set it apart from neighbouring contemporaries. The dwelling also is valued for its association with the original occupant, Ernest Lisle Christie, founder of a Brandon-based stationery and school supply company that still bears his name. For several generations the Christie's School Supply Catalogue was close at hand in school offices and staff rooms throughout Manitoba and beyond. Members of the Christie family continued to occupy the home until 1966.

Source: City of Brandon By-law No. 5521, January 16, 1989

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include:
- its prominent location on the southwest corner of 13th Street and Louise Avenue in downtown Brandon, set behind a white picket fence, with the front facing east onto 13th Street, and the north elevation set close to Louise Avenue

Key elements that define the modest Queen Anne Revival character of the Christie House include:
- the building's irregular plan, with its complex roofline composed of gabled and hipped sections, a prominent front gable dormer with three windows, a two-storey bay window on the front elevation capped with a distinctive doubled eave and a one-storey bay window on the north elevation
- the large wraparound verandah, finished in the same patterned shingling as the gable ends, with paired Tuscan columns supporting the roof with its modest pediment and the base skirted with white lattice

- a variety of fenestration featuring a second-storey oval window on the north elevation and multi-paned windows throughout
- the detailed brackets under the eaves, stone window sills and brick chimney

Key elements of the dwelling's fine interior materials, fixtures and finishes include:
- the side-hall entrance plan opening into a wide foyer with access to the main staircase, servants' staircase, parlour and living room
- the open stairway in oak, with facing side also panelled in oak, complemented by oak window casings, door frames and baseboards on the main floor, and oak sliding doors into the parlour and dining room
- features such as the distinctive stained-glass upper panels on the windows facing east and south in the parlour, heating radiators, period light fixtures in the sitting and dining rooms, distinctive heating vents, simple brick fireplace and mantel in the dining room and original oak flooring in second-floor bedrooms