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.
The Octagon House, also known as Hawley House, in Barrington, Illinois is a mid-19th century residence listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Milton House is a historic building located at 18 South Janesville Street in Milton, Wisconsin. It was a stop on the Underground Railroad, a network of people and places that facilitated the movements of escaped slaves. The building has been asserted to be the first grout building built in the United States; although that claim is dubious, the house's grout construction apparently was influential. The AIA Journal called it the "Oldest standing concrete structure of any consequence." It is also known for its hexagonal shape.
The Temple is a historic octagon-shaped Baptist church building on Temple Avenue in the Ocean Park area of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Built in 1881, it is the centerpiece of the summer camp meeting established in 1880 by Free Will Baptists led by Bates College President Oren Cheney. It is the only known octagonal religious structure currently in use in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and included in the Ocean Park Historic Buildings district in 1982.
The David Van Gelder Octagon House, also known as Springside is located at 21 Walnut Street in Catskill, New York. The brick house was built in 1860. It is architecturally significant as an example of an octagon house. The eight-sided plan was made popular in the mid-19th century by phrenologist Orson Squire Fowler. He called the floor plan "a superior plan". It includes four large square rooms and four small triangular rooms on each of the two floors. Two corners of each of the triangular rooms are small triangular closets. A central stair rises through the house to the cupola on the roof. A kitchen wing was added, likely in the mid-1870s.
The Octagon House is a historic octagon house at 21 Spring Street in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is considered the best octagon house of those that survive in Connecticut. In 1973 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places to avert its demolition in urban renewal.
The Octagon House is an historic octagonal house located at 28 King Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was built sometime between 1858 and 1864 by Joseph Watson, and is the only one of three 19th-century octagon houses built in the city to survive. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and included as part of expansion of the Westfield Center Historic District in 2013.
The William Bryant Octagon House is an historic octagon house located at 2 Spring Street in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Built in 1850, it is the best-preserved of three such houses built in the town in the 1850s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Richard Barker Octagon House is a historic octagon house located in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1855 and 1865, during a brief period in their popularity, it is one of two octagon houses in the city, and a relatively rare instance of one built using Orson Squire Fowler's recommended gravel wall technique. On March 5, 1980, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Loren Andrus Octagon House, also known as the Washington Octagon House, is a historic octagon house located at 57500 Van Dyke Avenue just north of 26 Mile Road in Washington Township, Macomb County, Michigan. On September 3, 1971, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Nathan B. Devereaux Octagon House is an historic octagonal house located at 66425 Eight Mile Road in Northfield Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan. The house is one of only three extant octagonal houses in Washtenaw County, and remains in excellent and near original condition. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The Dubois-Sarles Octagon is an octagon house located on South Street in Marlboro, New York, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. As of 2018 it was only one of 15 eight-sided houses left in New York State.
The Capt. Rodney J. Baxter House is an historic octagonal house at South and Pearl Streets in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Built in 1850, it is Barnstable's only example of an octagon house, built closely to designs advocated by Orson S. Fowler and briefly popular in the 1850s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
The Edward A. Brackett House is a historic octagon house at 290 Highland Avenue in Winchester, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1850s by sculptor Edward Augustus Brackett, and based on popular plans described by Orson Squire Fowler, it is Winchester's only octagonal house. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Hiram Ramsdell House, also called the Octagon House, is an historic octagonal house located at High and Perham streets in Farmington, Maine. Built in 1858 by mason Cyrus Ramsdell, it was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1973.
The Capt. George Scott House, also known locally as the Octagon House and the Collar Box House, is an historic octagon house on Federal Street in Wiscasset, Maine. Built in 1855, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1972.
The David Garland Rose House was built circa 1860 in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. David Rose was a local businessman. This Gothic Revival house is unusual in that it is eight-sided, an octagon. Each of the eight gables include decorated wood panels. Covered porches have been added to three sides.
Highland Cottage, also known as Squire House, is located on South Highland Avenue in Ossining, New York, United States. It was the first concrete house in Westchester County, built in the 1870s in the Gothic Revival architectural style. In 1982 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; almost 30 years later, it was added to the nearby Downtown Ossining Historic District as a contributing property.
The Duncan House is a historic house in 610 West Central Avenue in Harrison, Arkansas. It is a 1+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with asymmetrical massing and a busy roofline typical of the Queen Anne style. Distinctive features include metal cresting on the ridge lines, and a wraparound porch with tapered columns and turned balustrade. An octagonal cupola caps the roof. The house was built in 1893 by William Duncan, a local builder, for his own use. It is one of Harrison's few remaining houses of the period which has retained its Queen Anne features.
