Clapp Octagon House

Last updated
Clapp Octagon House
Anastasia Island Clapp Octagon House01.jpg
General information
Architectural style Octagon mode
Town or city St. Augustine, Florida
Country United States
Coordinates 29°53′14″N81°17′20″W / 29.887346°N 81.288877°W / 29.887346; -81.288877 Coordinates: 29°53′14″N81°17′20″W / 29.887346°N 81.288877°W / 29.887346; -81.288877
Completed 1886
Client Rollin N. Clapp
Another view Anastasia Island Clapp Octagon House02.jpg
Another view

The Clapp Octagon House is an historic octagonal house located at 62 Lighthouse Avenue in the historic Lighthouse Park neighborhood on the north end of Anastasia Island in St. Augustine, Florida. It was built in 1886 for Rollin N. Clapp of St. Louis, Missouri. [1]

Octagon house unique house style briefly popular in the 1850s in the United States and Canada

Octagon houses were a unique house style briefly popular in the 1850s in the United States and Canada. They are characterised by an octagonal (eight-sided) plan, and often feature a flat roof and a veranda all round. 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 one man, amateur architect and lifestyle pundit Orson Squire Fowler. Although there are other octagonal houses worldwide, the term octagon house usually refers specifically to octagonal houses built in North America during this period, and up to the early 1900s.

Anastasia Island island in the United States of America

Anastasia Island is a barrier island located off the northeast Atlantic coast of Florida in the United States. It sits east of St. Augustine, running north-south in a slightly southeastern direction to Matanzas Inlet. The island is about 14 miles (23 km) long and an average of 1 mile in width. It is separated from the mainland by the Matanzas River, part of the Intracoastal waterway. Matanzas Bay, the body of water between the island and downtown St. Augustine, opens into St. Augustine Inlet.

St. Augustine, Florida City in Florida, United States

St. Augustine is a city in the Southeastern United States, on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States.

Contents

It is the only classic surviving octagon house in St. Augustine. [2] It has been called: "One of St. Augustine's most important residential buildings." [3]

Later residents include: Mary Antin, [4] author of The Promised Land; Norman MacLeish, [5] artist and brother of Pulitzer Prizewinning poet and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish; and Lea Wells, the first female architect in St. Augustine.

Mary Antin American memoirist

Mary Antin was an American author and immigration rights activist. She is best known for her 1912 autobiography The Promised Land, an account of her emigration and subsequent Americanization.

Archibald MacLeish American poet and Librarian of Congress

Archibald MacLeish was an American poet and writer who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action during the First World War and lived in Paris in the 1920s. On returning to the US, he contributed to Henry Luce's magazine Fortune from 1929 to 1938. For five years MacLeish was Librarian of Congress, a post he accepted at the urging of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. From 1949 to 1962, MacLeish was Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University. MacLeish was awarded three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.

In 1989, it was listed as the Octagon House in A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture prepared by the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects and published by the University of Florida Press. [6]

American Institute of Architects professional association for architects

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image. The AIA also works with other members of the design and construction team to help coordinate the building industry.

It would have been one of some 30 Contributing properties in the Lighthouse Park Historic District which was proposed in 1993 to the St. Augustine city commission for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but which was turned down by the commission because of the vehement opposition of some residents, who feared that the district would develop into an historic preservation zoning district, as had some of the historic districts on the mainland in St. Augustine. [7]

Contributing property key component of a place listed on the National Register of Historic Places

In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant. Government agencies, at the state, national, and local level in the United States, have differing definitions of what constitutes a contributing property but there are common characteristics. Local laws often regulate the changes that can be made to contributing structures within designated historic districts. The first local ordinances dealing with the alteration of buildings within historic districts was in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

An extensive history of the building was written in 1980 by David Nolan, who worked on the official 1978-1980 survey of historic buildings in St. Augustine. A short listing on the house appeared in his book The Houses of St. Augustine in 1995. [8]

David Nolan is an American author and civil rights activist.

See also

Related Research Articles

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Spanish explorer

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer from the region of Asturias, Spain, who is remembered for planning the first regular trans-oceanic convoys and for founding St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish settlement in La Florida and the most significant city in the region for nearly three centuries. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously-inhabited, European-established settlement in the continental United States. Menéndez de Avilés was also the first governor of Florida (1565–74).

Indian Key Historic State Park place in Florida listed on National Register of Historic Places

Indian Key Historic State Park is an island within the Florida State Park system, located just a few hundred yards southeast of U.S. 1 within the Florida Keys. The island was briefly inhabited in the middle of the 19th century but is now an uninhabited ghost town. It is frequently visited by tourists and is the subject of an archaeological project to uncover the historic building foundations.

Mediterranean Revival architecture

Mediterranean Revival is a design style introduced in the United States in the waning nineteenth century variously incorporating references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Beaux-Arts, Italian Renaissance, Arabic Andalusian architecture, and Venetian Gothic architecture.

Conch, was originally a slang term for native Bahamians of European descent.

St. Marks River river in the United States of America

The St. Marks River is a river in the Big Bend region of Florida. It has been classified by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as an Outstanding Florida Water, and is the easternmost river within the Northwest Florida Water Management District.

Villa Zorayda building in Florida, United States

Villa Zorayda is a house at 83 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida. Built in 1883 by the eccentric Boston millionaire Franklin W. Smith as his winter home, it was inspired by the 12th-century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. Smith named it "Villa Zorayda", after one of the princesses in Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra. The building and part of Franklin Smith's art and antique collection were sold to Abraham Mussallem, a rug and antiquities merchant originally from Syria, in 1913. On September 23, 1993, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Villa Zorayda Museum is still owned by the Mussallem family and contains the original art and antique collection assembled by Franklin Smith and Abraham Mussallem.

Avero House

The Avero House is a historic house located at 41 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. The building is locally significant as one of 30 remaining houses within the historic district that pre-date 1821. It was once the site of a Minorcan Chapel. Today, the building is home to the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine.

Richard Peacon House

The Richard Peacon House, also known as the Octagon House, is an historic octagonal house located at 712 Eaton Street in the Old Town district of Key West, Florida. It was built around 1885 for Richard Peacon (1840-1914), who was the owner of Key West's leading grocery store located at 800 Fleming Street and who later became a founding director of the Island City National Bank.

Haig Point Range Lights lighthouse in South Carolina, United States

The Haig Point Range Lights were range lights on Calibogue Sound at the northeastern end of Daufuskie Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina. The Haig Point Range Lights were built in 1873 and were maintained as an official aid to navigation until about 1924. The Rear Range Light house has been restored. It is a guest house for the Haig Point Club and serves as a private aid to navigation.

Bloody Point Range Lights lighthouse in South Carolina, United States

The Bloody Point Range Lights, which is known as the Bloody Point Lighthouse, were range lights on the southern end of Daufuskie Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina. The Bloody Point Range Lights were built in 1883. Due to erosion, the front light was moved to the location of the former rear light and became the rear light. The lights were maintained as an official aid to navigation until 1922. The original Front Range Light house is currently a private home.

Harbour Town Light Lighthouse in South Carolina, United States

The Harbour Town Lighthouse is a lighthouse at the Harbour Town Marina at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. It was privately built and is a private aid to navigation. Although initially ridiculed by local residents during the planning and construction phases, the lighthouse became instantly popular and is today the most recognizable symbol of Hilton Head Island and Sea Pines Resort. The annually televised The Heritage golf tournament has helped increase the lighthouse's fame to millions of golf fans worldwide, and the 18th hole at the Harbour Town Golf Links has become one of the most popular and recognizable finishing holes in golf.

Federal Point Light was a lighthouse at Federal Point near Kure Beach in New Hanover County, North Carolina. It was an active light from about 1866 to around 1879.

Price Creek Light lighthouse in North Carolina, United States

The Price Creek Lighthouse, also known as the Price's Creek Lighthouse, is a structure located near Southport, North Carolina. It was one of two range lights at Price Creek in a series of lights to guide ships from Cape Fear to Wilmington, North Carolina.

St. Augustine Amphitheatre concert venue in St Augustine, Florida, United States of America

The St. Augustine Amphitheatre is an outdoor amphitheater located on the A1A in St Augustine, Florida, United States. The venue seats over 4,000 persons, and is managed by the St. Johns County Parks & Recreation department.

St. Augustine in the American Civil War

During most of the American Civil War the Florida city of St. Augustine was under Union control. Its Confederate history was exceedingly brief. One Union general and one Confederate general were natives of the Ancient City. Many officers on both sides had previous military experience in St. Augustine, particularly during the Second Seminole War. The city's historic Sea Wall was built in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s by West Point engineers who went on to design military fortifications for both sides in the Civil War. Many black Union soldiers either came from St. Augustine, or settled there after the war, providing a leadership cadre for the community known as Lincolnville that was established in 1866. Many of the city's old cemeteries feature the distinctive marble tombstones marked "USCT"--United States Colored Troops.

The history of St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European origin in the United States, began in 1565 when it was founded by the Spanish admiral, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. The Spanish Crown issued an asiento to Menéndez, signed by King Philip II on March 20, 1565, granting him various titles, including that of adelantado of Florida, and expansive privileges to exploit the lands in the vast territory of Spanish Florida, called La Florida by the Spaniards. This contract directed Menéndez to explore the region's Atlantic coast and report on its features, with the object of finding a suitable location to establish a permanent colony from which the Spanish treasure fleet could be defended and Spain's claimed territories in North America protected against incursions by other European powers.

The Saint Augustine Historical Society (SAHS) is a membership organization committed to the preservation and interpretation of historically significant structures, artifacts, and documentary materials related to Saint Augustine, Florida. Formally organized on New Years Day 1883, SAHS is the oldest continuously operating museum and historical society in Florida. In 1899, the society purchased the Vedder Museum on Bay Street where it exhibited historical and scientific curiosities until losing its holdings in the Saint Augustine Fire of 1914. In 1920, SAHS successfully lobbied for federal restoration of Fort Matanzas, and in 1965, it played a significant role in the restoration of numerous historic sites in preparation for the Saint Augustine quadricentennial.

References

  1. Kline, Robert V. "Inventory of Older Octagon, Hexagon, and Round Houses: Florida". rvkline. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  2. Lighthouse Park: Architectural Significance Archived 2004-03-25 at the Wayback Machine .
  3. Proposed Lighthouse Park Historic District: Present and Original Physical Appearance, accessed June 22, 2008 Archived May 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine .
  4. Nolan, David, with paintings by Jean Ellen Fitzpatrick and photographs by Ken Barrett, Jr., The Houses of St. Augustine, Sarasota: Pineapple Press, 1985, p. 38, ISBN   1-56164-069-7]
  5. Nolan, David, with paintings by Jean Ellen Fitzpatrick and photographs by Ken Barrett, Jr., The Houses of St. Augustine, Sarasota: Pineapple Press, 1985, p. 38, ISBN   1-56164-069-7]
  6. A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, 1989, Gainesville: University of Florida Press, p. 79, ISBN   0-8130-0941-3
  7. St. Augustine Neighborhood says no to Historic Designation [ permanent dead link ]
  8. Nolan, David, with paintings by Jean Ellen Fitzpatrick and photographs by Ken Barrett, Jr., The Houses of St. Augustine, Sarasota: Pineapple Press, 1985, p. 38, ISBN   1-56164-069-7]

Further reading