The Octagon House Inventory

By Ellen L. Puerzer

Subjects: octagonal, octagon house, Michigan, Octagonal Buildings, Historic buildings, Octagonal houses, Domestic Architecture, new york, History

Description: Buy it here http://berniepuer.ipower.com/octagonbook/index.html While the exact number of octagon houses built in the United States during the 19th century isn’t known, most sources indicate several thousand were constructed. There are many towns where 2, even 3 octagon houses were built. And in several cases, a family might build a second octagon when they outgrew the first. The historical significance of these houses is evident when one considers that the majority were built before the Civil War. A couple were even involved in Civil War battles. The most thorough and in depth source ever compiled about octagon/hexagon and round houses. Nearly 1000 have been documented: 175 in NY, 84 in Massachusetts, 83 in Michigan etc. Over 400 still stand. When Orson Fowler wrote his book A Home For All in 1848, people across the country became fascinated and embraced the fad of building their own Octagon House. Today over a dozen octagon houses are museums, open to the public, and many private homes are well preserved. Unfortunately the majority of remaining octagon houses have been subject to ill-conceived modernizations. This 310 page book has the history and locations of over 900 octagon homes (including hexagon and roundhouses). It is supplemented with illustrations of vintage postcards, historic photos and contemporary views of the homes, some never before published. The book includes schoolhouses and other 19th Century octagonal buildings of merit. In addition to nearly 130 images, the book contains information culled from the Octagon Inventory web site, old newspapers and 30 years of collected archives.