Octagon houses are eight-sided houses that were popular in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

mostly in the 1850s. They are characterized by an

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

al (eight-sided)

plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an Goal, objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a modal logic, temporal set (mathematics), set of intended actions through wh ...

and often feature a flat roof and a

veranda A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front an ...

that circles the house. Their unusual shape and appearance, quite different from the ornate pitched-roof houses typical of the period, can generally be traced to the influence of amateur

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and lifestyle pundit

Orson Squire Fowler Orson Squire Fowler (October 11, 1809 – August 18, 1887) was an American phrenologist and lecturer. He also popularized the octagon house in the middle of the nineteenth century. Early life The son of Horace and Martha (Howe) Fowler, he ...

. Although there are other octagonal houses worldwide, the term ''octagon house'' usually refers to octagonal houses built in North America during this period, and up to the early 1900s.

History

Early examples, before Fowler: *

Poplar Forest Poplar Forest is a plantation and retreat home in Forest, Virginia, United States, that belonged to Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and third U.S. president. Jefferson inherited the property in 1773 and began designing and working on his ret ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

's private retreat and plantation house near Lynchburg, Virginia. *

William Thornton William Thornton (May 20, 1759 – March 28, 1828) was an American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the United Sta ...

John Tayloe III Col. John Tayloe III (September 2, 1770March 23, 1828), of Richmond County, Virginia, was the premier Virginia planter and scion of the tidewater gentry. Although his father and grandfather had served on the Virginia governor's council and we ...

House, more commonly called

The Octagon House The Octagon House, also known as the Colonel John Tayloe III House, is a house located at 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was built in 1799 for John Tayloe III, the wealthiest planter in ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

After the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

was burned by the British during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

stayed in the Octagon House, and it was here that the

Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...

(ending the War of 1812) was signed. It is now the headquarters of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

. While known as "The Octagon", it is worth noting that this particular building is not actually octagonal. Both houses are large brick buildings in the classical tradition. They may be seen as precursors, but are somewhat different from the Victorian octagon houses which are essentially domestic structures.

Orson Squire Fowler

The leading proponent of octagonal houses was

. Fowler was America's foremost lecturer and writer on

phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ...

, the

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

of defining an individual's characteristics by the contours of the skull. In the middle of the 19th century, Fowler made his mark on

American architecture The architecture of the United States demonstrates a broad variety of architectural styles and built forms over the country's history of over two centuries of independence and former Spanish, French, Dutch and British rule. Architecture in the ...

when he touted the advantages of octagonal homes over rectangular and square structures in his widely publicized book, ''The Octagon House: A Home For All, or A New, Cheap, Convenient, and Superior Mode of Building'', printed in the year 1848. As a result of this popular and influential publication, a few thousand octagonal houses were erected in the United States, mostly in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, the East Coast and in nearby parts of

. Fowler was not a professional architect.

Advantages of the octagon plan

According to Fowler, an octagon house was cheaper to build, allowed for additional living space, received more natural light, was easier to heat, and remained cooler in the summer. These benefits all derive from the geometry of an octagon: the shape encloses space efficiently, minimizing external surface area and consequently heat loss and gain, building costs etc. A circle is the most efficient shape, but difficult to build and awkward to furnish, so an octagon is a sensible approximation. Victorian builders were used to building 135 ° corners, as in the typical

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

, and could easily adapt to an octagonal plan.

Design principles

Fowler's ''The Octagon House'' is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a

pattern book A pattern book, or architectural pattern book, is a book of architectural designs, usually providing enough for non-architects to build structures that are copies or significant derivatives of major architect-designed works. A number of pattern bo ...

but the popularity of the book lies in the way Fowler suggested some general principles, and encouraged readers to invent the details for themselves. Only a few examples are offered, and apart from plans, the book has only two illustrations. Fowler first shows some methods of subdividing an octagonal floor plan. Next is ''Howland's octagonal plan'', a small house designed by 'Messrs. Morgan and Brothers, architects' which is similar to the

Norrish House The Claflin-Norrish House is a historic octagon house, octagonal house located in Hastings, Minnesota, United States; a contributing property to the West Second Street Residential Historic District. The two-story home was built of limestone cov ...

illustrated below. There follows ''A description of the author's own residence'', now known as

Fowler's Folly Fowler's Folly, built during 1848–1853, was the octagonal home of Orson S. Fowler in Fishkill, New York. It was a "monumental" house for its time, with four stories and 60 rooms. an''Accompanying 10 photos, exterior and interior'' The house w ...

, at Fishkill, of which more below. Finally, ''A superior plan for a good sized house'', which is a development of the Fishkill plans, apparently proposed by his engraver. The main feature of his plans is a desire to eliminate unnecessary circulation space, sometimes to the point that the main staircase is inconvenient, and the external veranda is the best way to get around the house. Other design proposals include: * Flat roof to collect rainwater, with

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s built-in to collect and distribute the water. * Rainwater filtering, using filter beds made up of alternating layers of sand and

activated charcoal "Activated" is a song by English singer Cher Lloyd. It was released on 22 July 2016 through Vixen Records. The song was made available to stream exclusively on ''Rolling Stone'' a day before to release (on 21 July 2016). Background In an inter ...

. * Central heating by distributing hot air from a furnace in the

basement A basement is any Storey, floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, water heating, ...

. * Flues, air ducts and

speaking tube A speaking tube or voicepipe is a device based on two cones connected by an air pipe through which speech can be transmitted over an extended distance. Use of pipes was suggested by Francis Bacon in the ''New Atlantis'' (1672). The usage for te ...

s built into the thickness of walls. Built examples vary greatly in how much of this influence is apparent. Although built in brick, the Watertown house featured in this article is an almost perfect embodiment of many of Fowler's ideas.

Masswall construction

Stacked board construction was recommended in the first edition of ''A Home for All'' but the third edition of Fowler's book, printed in 1853, had a new subtitle: ''A Home For All, or The Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building'', and was distinguished by Fowler's enthusiasm for concrete construction. At the time concrete construction was not widely used as Portland cement was only recently discovered by a Mr. Goodrich of Janesville, Wisconsin. Fowler knew gravel and lime were available in unlimited quantities in the prairies and saw the "gravel wall" as offering a new, cheap and durable way of building. His house at Fishkill was built using concrete. The walls were built up a few feet at a time, by pouring a mixture of gravel and lime into timber shuttering. As the concrete cured, the shuttering could be taken down and moved up to the next level. Modern concrete is made using

Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar (masonry), mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in th ...

, not

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

, but the main difference is the universal use of steel reinforcing bars, which greatly increase the strength of the material, and make it possible to build concrete beams and floor slabs as well as walls. Fowler used large stones to reinforce corners, but he used no other reinforcement, and was therefore restricted to walls. The roof, floors and verandas are all of timber construction.

Fowler's Folly

To quote Fowler "...those studies which have eventuated in this work were instituted primarily in order to erect this very house". Construction began in 1848, the same year his book was first published, and took five years to complete. The house was large, to each side of the octagon or across, and built on a hilltop overlooking the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

, where it could be seen for miles around. Fowler removed the top of the hill to create a level site and to provide material for his "gravel walls". This grand residence had four huge reception rooms which could be interconnected depending on the size of event, allegedly 60 rooms (counting small dressing rooms as well as proper rooms) and a glazed

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

rising to above ground. Fowler's favorite writing room was an internal room on the third floor, lit only from the cupola via a

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

over the door. The house had no central staircase, so visitors entered one of the main rooms through a small lobby, while family and staff used the basement entrance. There are verandas all round the house at first-, second- and third-floor levels, linked by two outside stairs. The financial panic of 1857 led Fowler to rent out the house, which subsequently went through a series of owners. Fowler's Folly fell into disrepair, and finally - condemned as a public hazard - it was dynamited in 1897 by Fred C. Haight, demolition engineer for the city of Fishkill.

Surviving examples

Estimates vary but hundreds of these

Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

homes are still standing across the United States and Canada. One estimate puts the number at 2,077. Even in their heyday, octagon houses were never mainstream. The largest remaining octagon homes in the United States are Longwood in

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...

and the Octagon House in

Watertown, Wisconsin Watertown is a city in Jefferson and Dodge counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 22,926 at the 2020 census, of which 14,674 were in Jefferson County and 8,252 were in Dodge County. Division Street, several blocks north of ...

. Both homes are open to the public. In Eastern Washington state one still sits where it was moved to in 1993 to Bridgeport, near the Columbia River. Fowler was influential, but not the only proponent of octagonal houses and other structures. There are also octagonal barns, schoolhouses, churches, and in Canada, octagonal "

dead house A dead house, deadhouse or mort house, is a structure used for the temporary storage of a human corpse before burial or transportation, usually located within or near a cemetery. Such edifices were more common before the mid-20th century in are ...

s".

Design and variations

Within the central idea of the octagonal plan, these houses show a wide variety of both construction and outward form. They range from the modest two-storey Bevis-Tucker House, to the grandiose Armour-Stiner House (both are illustrated below). A full octagon house has eight equal sides, although slight variations in length are not unusual. In some cases the basic octagon is partially obscured by additions, either all round as at the Zelotes Holmes House, or by adding a functional wing out of sight at the rear. The

House of the Seven Gables The House of the Seven Gables (also known as the Turner House or Turner-Ingersoll Mansion) is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, named for its gables. It was made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 novel ''The House of the Sev ...

Mayo, Florida Mayo, Florida is a town and the only municipality in Lafayette County, Florida, Lafayette County, Florida, United States. It is the county seat of Lafayette County. The population was 1,055 at the 2020 census. History Although the current Town ...

has gables on seven sides while the eighth side is extended to the rear. The Richard Peacon House in

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

, appears to be a full octagon from the street but the rear portion is squared off. Fowler advocated the use of "gravel wall" construction for the walls. This was an experimental technique at the time, and although some were built that way, most octagon houses were built the same way as ordinary houses, of

timber frame Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

, brick or stone.

Planned community

A moral community headed by Henry S. Clubb tried to establish

Octagon City Octagon City is a ghost town in Allen County, Kansas, United States. It was a failed intentional community that was founded in 1856 about six miles (10 km) south of Humboldt, Kansas, near the Neosho River. It was created by the Vegetarian ...

in 1856 in Kansas. It was intended to have an octagonal square with eight roads and octagonal farmhouses and barns. Most settlers had left after the winter.

Examples of octagon houses

The following are examples of the 'true' octagon houses and the range of design variations to be found. File:Jane's House.jpg, Jane Ross Reeves Octagon House in Shirley, Indiana. Built in 1879, moved and restored in 1997. File:Bevis Tucker House-076750pv.jpg, Modest timber frame house with a flat roof. Bevis Tucker House,

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County ( ) is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in ...

. File:Akron octagon house.jpg, Large timber frame house, pitched roof and lantern, veranda all round. Arched windows and window shutters add to the decorative effect. The Rich-Twinn Octagon House in

Akron, New York Akron is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 2,868 at the 2010 census. The name derives from the Greek word ἄκρον signifying a summit or high point. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metrop ...

. File:Estabrook Octagon House, Hoosick Falls, NY.jpg, Stucco

Estabrook Octagon House The Estabrook Octagon House, built in 1853 by Ezra Robinson Estabrook, is a historic octagonal house located at 8 River Street ( NY 22) in Hoosick Falls, New York. It was constructed in strict accordance with the theories of Orson Squire Fowler, ...

Hoosick Falls, New York Hoosick Falls is a village in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 3,501 at the 2010 census. During its peak, in 1900, the village had a population of approximately 7,000. The village of Hoosick Falls is near the center ...

(built 1853-1854) File:Octagon House (Barrington, IL) 01.JPG, Modest sized but decorative timber frame house, seen here painted in 'heritage' colors which may reflect the original color scheme.

Octagon House Octagon houses are eight-sided houses that were popular in the United States and Canada mostly in the 1850s. They are characterized by an octagonal (eight-sided) Floor plan, plan and often feature a flat roof and a veranda that circles the hous ...

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Lake County, Illinois, Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area featu ...

(built 1860). File:OctagonHouse-Sparland.jpg, Plain brick house with no decorative features except a modest front veranda. Robert Waugh House,

Sparland, Illinois Sparland is a village in Marshall County, Illinois, United States. The population was 366 at the 2020 census, down from 406 in 2010. It is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Sparland is in western Marshall County, on ...

(built in 1886). File:WilcoxOctagonHouse 2008-06-19 cropped sm030.jpg, Perfectly octagonal brick house with veranda, pitched roof and lantern. Wilcox Octagon House,

Camillus, New York Camillus is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 25,346. The Town of Camillus is west of Syracuse, ...

(built 1856). File:MMCritesOctagonHouse2003.jpg, Brick house with, unusually, the timber frame second floor built into the roof structure. Gregg-Crites Octagon House in

Circleville, Ohio Circleville is a city in Pickaway County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The city is situated along the Scioto River 25 miles (40 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 13,927 at the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

(built 1855–56). File:Feusier Octagon House (San Francisco).JPG, A similar arrangement of masonry ground floor and timber frame second floor, but built in a decorative style typical of San Francisco. Feusier Octagon House,

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(built 1857). File:West 2nd Homes-Norrish.jpg, Severely plain house, limestone walls finished with cement render. Features are typical of Fowler's influence: all-round veranda, flat roof and central lantern.

Hastings, Minnesota Hastings ( ) is a city mostly in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota County, Minnesota, of which it is the county seat, with a portion in Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County, Minnesota, United States. It is near the confluence of the M ...

(built between 1857 and 1858). File:Wallingford Octagon House.JPG, An even plainer house, although well-proportioned, with no veranda, just a front porch. Octagon house,

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The town is part ...

(built 1850s). File:McElroy Octagon House (San Francisco).jpg, Concrete house – Fowler's "gravel wall" construction – with cement render scored to look like masonry.

McElroy Octagon House The McElroy Octagon House, also known as the Colonial Dames Octagon House, is a historic octagonal house now located at 2645 Gough Street at Union Street in the Cow Hollow neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States. It was list ...

(built 1861). File:Zelotes Holmes House, 619 East Main Street, Laurens (Laurens County, South Carolina).jpg, Another example of concrete construction. A variation on the pure octagon plan, with square wings extending on four sides. Zelotes Holmes House,

Laurens, South Carolina Laurens is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 9,139 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Laurens County. History Located in upstate South Carolina, the city of Laurens is named after Henry Lau ...

(built 1859). File:Armour-Stiner House.jpg, Large ornate house, with a level of decoration more usually associated with public buildings. Originally more modest in conception, the house was built in 1860 and the dome was added during 1872–1876.

Armour–Stiner House The Armour–Stiner House is an Octagon house, octagon-shaped and domed Victorian-style house located at 45 West Clinton Avenue in Irvington, New York, Irvington, in Westchester County, New York. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in ...

Irvington, New York Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson, is a suburban Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village of the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Un ...

Case study: Watertown Octagon House, Wisconsin

Although one of the largest, the Watertown house is midway between the grandest and most modest surviving examples. It is well documented, has been carefully restored, and is open to the public as a museum.

History

Construction was completed 1854. The house fell into disuse and was taken over by the newly founded Watertown Historical Society, and opened to the public in 1938. It is still owned by the Society.

Construction and innovations

* The plan is a octagon, with a veranda all round at first- and second-floor levels. * The house is built on stone foundations, with external walls of brickwork thick. * The central square is made up of two leaves of brickwork with a cavity, which is used for chimney flues and warm air ducting, to heat rooms without fireplaces. The double wall eliminates the need for projecting

chimney breasts A chimney breast is a portion of a chimney which projects forward from a wall to accommodate a fireplace. Typically on the ground floor of a structure, the masonry extends upwards, containing a flue which carries smoke out of the building through ...

. * The battlement effect at the top of the

is actually the four chimneys. * A furnace in the basement heats water, and warm air is ducted into the twelve main rooms, i.e. those adjoining the central square. * An elegant

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

links all the floors. It is self-supporting on the inside and built into the walls on the outside of the stairwell. There is also a servants' staircase. * The house has a flat roof, sloping gently towards the center. * Rainwater from the roof was collected in a reservoir at third-floor level, and overflows into a cistern next to the kitchen in the basement. * Publications regularly state the house has 57 rooms; however this includes every closet and passage. The number of habitable rooms is 29, including the octagonal room in the cupola. * Despite having 15 bedrooms there is just a single bathroom.

Architectural style

The house was inspired by Fowler's book, and is a good example of his theories put into practice. Features which are directly linked to his ideas, apart from the octagonal plan, are the central spiral staircase, symmetrical arrangement of rooms with interconnecting doors, the verandas running all round the building, and the flat roof surmounted by a cupola. In accordance with Fowler's theories, the detailing is relatively plain for the period. Openings are simply framed by moldings. The covered verandas lack excess detail, having modest turned

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

spindles and supporting posts. The decorative effect of the house comes from the basic design features: the octagonal shape and the external verandas. There are four generously sized rooms on each floor, nearly 18 foot square, with connecting doors all round. The subsidiary rooms are less satisfactory, being triangular. The arrangement of rooms is rigidly the same on all floors because the partition walls are of brickwork, so they must stack one above the other. The central spiral stair is compact, but leaves one side of the house without direct access to the landings, so there are bedrooms only accessible through another bedroom - in the worst case, through two other bedrooms. Fowler's own house had external staircases and the verandas were used for circulation and access to the rooms.

Record drawings

Below are drawings of the Watertown Octagon House dated March 28, 1935, prepared by the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. At that time the verandas were missing, removed when they became dangerously rotten. The survey drawings are a reconstruction of the house as it was originally built. Image:Watertown Octagon House-plans.png, Ground floor (basement) and first floor plans. Image:Watertown Octagon House-upper plans.png, Second and third floor plans. Image:Watertown Octagon House-elevation.png, Front elevation. Image:Watertown Octagon House-details.png, Exterior details: front door and windows. Image:Watertown Octagon House-details2.png, Interior details: the main spiral staircase, door casings and base boards. Image:Watertown Octagon House-240085v.jpg, Photograph, possibly as early as 1856, showing the house in its original state.

References

External links

{{commons category, Octagon houses
Northeast Journal: Fowler's Folly, Fishkill, NYOctagon House Inventory, by Robert Kline, a retired engineer living in Grand Rapids, MIOldhouseweb: Octagon House: 1850-1860The Octagon in the Houses of Orson Fowler
House styles American architectural styles Architecture related to utopias

History

Orson Squire Fowler

Advantages of the octagon plan

Design principles

Masswall construction

Fowler's Folly

Surviving examples

Design and variations

Planned community

Examples of octagon houses

Case study: Watertown Octagon House, Wisconsin

History

Construction and innovations

Architectural style

Record drawings

See also

References

Further reading

External links