Thomas J. Christie House
Three other homes and a sorority house were sparsely scattered over this block when contractor Thomas J. Christie added a residence here circa 1911. Apparently constructed as an investment, Christie never lived in the home himself but probably banked on its prime location near the university to make it an attractive investment. This would explain a series of owners and occupants of this gracious Queen Anne style residence. (The house changed hands at least three times during its first decade.) By 1921, numerous residences had filled in the entire neighborhood, and Christie’s original property entered a new era. The home was well suited for student housing and later served as a sorority house for Kappa Kappa Gamma (1929), Alpha Chi Omega (1930-1931), Kappa Delta (1932), and Alpha Xi Delta (1933-1936). Engineer James E. Schecter purchased the home in 1936 while his son, Harold, attended the university. The Schecters, who lived here until 1948, were the first owners to live in the residence for any length of time. Painstaking renovation, including the preservation of original border-inlaid flooring, has recently restored the stately home to its former prominence in this historic neighborhood.
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