The Octagon House: A Home for All

by Orson Squire Fowler

Reprints the mid-nineteenth-century work that extolled the merits of and provided advice on constructing an octagonally-shaped house

Genres: Architecture

204 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1973

Reviews

[Roberta]

I can't imagine building a house based solely on this book but many people did. Between 1848 when the first edition of this book was published and the Civil War, many octagon houses were built. Orson Fowler lived in his own octagon house between Route 9 and the Hudson River in Dutchess County, NY, for a relatively short time before moving to a more conventional (and cheaper) house. It was used as a boarding house and a school before being abandoned and vandalized. It is a testament to the sturdiness of the construction that local authorities finally had to dynamite the house to raze it. There is no longer any sign of the house on Fowler Road.

Over the years many octagon houses have come and gone. The families who built them died out or moved away and the houses had to wait for another occupant who appreciated the unique building. Many of the houses did not survive the wait. If you are really interested in reading more about these houses and seeing some rare photos, the book to look for is The Octagon House Inventory.

Fowler claimed that the octagon house was cheaper to build and healthier to live in than a four-sided house. While it may have been cheaper to build at that time, that probably isn't true today since anything unconventional seems to incur added expense. I hear of a new one only occasionally. I can't comment on the healthful aspects except to say, if laughter is the best medicine, there will be plenty of laughter (or cursing) when you try to arrange furniture. There is a lot of space that is simply not usable. The only room that is perfectly suited to being in a triangular-shaped space is the kitchen. My kitchen is perfect.

[Felicity Fields]

I absolutely loved this book. The writing is phenomenal: the author tells you unequivacobly what he thinks and feels in witty language. He was remarkably enlightened for his time: children should have their own rooms, central heating, hot and cold water in upstairs bedrooms. Being a huge fan of dumbwaiters, I loved his insistence on having one and its virtues.

There are of course a few sections that are very much of their time around women's role in the home. They are few and far between, thank goodness.

Having visited an octagon house, which lead me to this book, I'm now daydreaming about how I would lay out such a house.