C Annan Vanderpuye Esq. Architect, Civil and Mechanical Engineer
Part of my series titled “Were There Architects in Ghana Before the Mid-20th Century? Overlooked Histories of Architects and Architecture in the Gold Coast/ Ghana”
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C. Annan Vanderpuye (1881 – after ca 1940)[1] was an architect, civil and mechanical engineer who worked as a foreman in the Public Works Department of the Gold Coast. He learned carpentry and joinery and worked as a railway engineer in the Gold Coast and Nigeria.
In 1906 he established a business called Derby Works where one could “repair the most delicate machine or buy the finest furniture”.[2]
By the 1920s Derby Works appears to have been quite well-established as a light to medium industrial business which dealt in carpentry, mechanical engineering, and construction. Derby Works submitted and received building permits for several additions, alterations and expansions to their premises on Derby Avenue. There were also at least two permits granted care of Derby Works for corn mills for female owners in 1928 and 1929.
The work that C Annan Vanderpuye was most celebrated for was his architectural design of his brother Jacob Addo-Vanderpuye’s house – Adawso or Adorso House – and his own personal residence Derby House, both in Accra.
C. Annan Vanderpuye’s design of Adawso House was in an Italianate “Afropean” architectural style that combines programmatic features and decorative elements of Gold Coast African and European architectures.
Derby House, C.A. Vanderpuye’s personal residence on Derby Avenue, was described as a “cosily furnished… model building” with spacious grounds. It was likely finished in the early 1920s and was also designed in a style reminiscent of the Italianate style. Although much smaller and less extravagant than his brother’s Adawso House, C.A.’s Derby house had elaborate design elements such as a balcony with urn-shaped balusters and decoratively trimmed pilasters.
Notes
[1] Doortmont estimates that CA Vanderpuye died after 1928, but he’s more likely to have died after 1940.[2] From The Pen-Pictures
Adawso House, designed by C Annan Vanderpuye. Image source Deo Gratias Studios via The Guardian