The Essence of Summer
The NHADA Show, Aug. 11-13

More than 150 octagon houses survive in New York State
Editor’s Note: What follows is part II of Northeast’s look at the legacy of Orson Fowler in our region. In the first part of the series, Tom Calarco took a look at Fowler himself, and his philosophy of design. Whether or not the movement proved Fowler’s theories of living correct, they did leave behind a superb legacy, especially in New York State, which was the center of Fowler’s movement.
By Tom Calarco
You don’t see an octagon-shaped building everyday, and of the 150-odd such structures in New York State, they’re sometimes hard to find despite their unusual architecture and generally imposing size. An example of this is a house in the hamlet of Crescent in Saratoga County on Church Hill Drive, along the banks of the Mohawk River where the Erie Canal used to be.
“It’s a big house,” said George W. Harris, Jr., who grew up there in the 1950s, and whose father still lives there.
The house has changed considerably. Gone are the cupola, wraparound porch, and basement kitchen advocated by Octagon house promoter Orson Fowler, who we discussed in the first article in this series (see Northeast, July 2005), and the hipped roof has been replaced by gables. Believed to have been built in 1854 during the height of the Octagon fad, based on the finding of two 1854 half-dimes in the walls during renovation, the house is hidden from view as you drive along Church Hill Road and you need to pull into a short dead end roadway to catch a glimpse.
Harris remembers that it was rather cold before central heating was installed in the ‘60s. The walls were filled with bricks rather than the natural grout cement recommended by Fowler, and Harris said they did not furnish very good insulation. But he loved the wraparound porch, which, unfortunately, he and his father had to tear down when the wood began to rot. He also agreed that the unusual, spherical design did make the inside of the house seem a lot bigger, and another nice feature common to Octagon houses that remains are the two spiral staircases. Other features that show the influence of Fowler are the cistern, which collected all roof water for use and a kitchen that originally was in the basement with a dumbwaiter that went up into the dining room.
The house made a strong impression on Harris and it inspired him to become interested in the area’s history. During the house’s heyday, he learned it was owned by the innovative photographer, Edward Sterry, the inventor of the stereographic image, many of which have become valuable antiques and museum pieces. He also learned that what is now waterfront at the back edge of the house’s yard was a road that ran parallel to the old Erie Canal. This was road was submerged during the enlargement of the canal that took place from 1905-1918 to allow for commercial use by barges. But Harris’s fascination is not surprising, for these aging curiosities are apt to make many of us stop and stare with wonder.
That’s exactly what architect and builder Jonathan DeForest did one day when he was driving by one more than ten years ago in the town of Duanesburg. He did more than stare.
“I decided I wanted to buy it,” he said of the house, which sits on an elevation that affords a magnificent view of a valley and distant hills.
DeForest negotiated with the former owner and, after two years, they agreed on the purchase.
“I love the layout,” said DeForest, who can open a window on the second floor and bring a breeze down the stairs and cross ventilate the entire house.
It’s also obvious that an architect like DeForest appreciates its fine construction keyhole woodworking, and stain glass windows.
“It’s made entirely of wood, solid oak,” said Bill Massoth of the Duanesburg Historical Society, “and its foundation was made with field stone, including some huge stones that cause them to stick out on the inside and allow them to be used as stone shelves.”
According to Massoth, the house was built by a master carpenter named Alexander “Boss” Jones, known for his houses, barns, and cabinetmaking, in the early 1850s for John Shute. That places it smack in the heart of Fowler era. Jones not only built the Shute house, but also a very similar house about three miles away in Delanson for Nathan Jenkins.
The Jenkins house includes the classic wraparound porch not part of the Shute house, though it is quite possible that it had been removed. Both houses are listed on the National Historic Register.
Around the same time that “Boss” Jones was building his houses in Duanesburg, about 20 miles southwest in Fultonham, Schoharie County, the Mattice brothers, John Calvin and Henry, were building their own personal octagon house. It was unique in that the brothers built it so they could split it down the middle. It was partitioned through the center, and each had his own stairs up to the second floor and to the attic and down from the first floor to the cellar. Apparently, however, they shared the classic Octagon cupola at the top.
Octagon houses generally were built because it was believed they offered a more comfortable living arrangement, which Fowler gave ample evidence to support in his book. Dave Fineout of Oneonta agrees
“It’s a lot easier to get from place to place. You just keep going around in circles,” said Fineout, who bought the huge Oneonta octagon with his wife Nadine in 2002, “And it’s easier to heat, has lots of windows, and you always get a breeze through.”
It wasn’t quite so commodious, however, when they moved in, as the house had been converted into apartments. Built around 1870 by Steven Bull, it has three full stories plus its original cupola. It has 16 rooms, four bathrooms, and takes in an area of 5,000 square feet. While extolling the benefits of living in such a unique environment, Fineout said his house also had the usual drawbacks of old houses, including worn out plumbing, a deteriorating roof, and drafty windows. He has so far replaced the roofs and has begun reconverting it to single family use, but still has a long way to go.
He and wife Nadine enjoy the house, and the attention that goes along with it, being located in the heart of Oneonta. Dave had even created a web site about the house and continually provides updates on the progress of his renovation: www.oneontaoctagon.com
“It’s like living in a fishbowl,” Nadine said, referring to all the strangers that stop and stare, or even knock on their door to have a look see inside.
While Fowler suggested that an octagon house was affordable to the average individual, his experience showed otherwise. Among those who spent his riches on an octagon house was Linus Yale Sr., inventor of the Yale Lock, who had a two-story octagon with a cupola built in 1849 for his daughter, Mrs. Ira L. Cady in Newport, NY, which is about 12 miles north of Herkimer. Just two years before, Yale had built his lock factory in Newport. His jointed pin tumbler lock became known wherever bank vaults or treasures were protected, and Yale locks are still a well-known trademark today.
Eventually, Linus, Jr. moved the business to Philadelphia, where he entered into a partnership with Henry R. Towne. Junior died suddenly in 1868 and Towne changed the company’s name to “The Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company.” Like all good businesses, it seems they start in New York and then move away.
The octagon structure wasn’t just used for houses, schools, and churches. Many other buildings also took the eight-sided shape. One that has been touched by history was a small study that is now a museum on the Elmira College campus. That study was where Mark Twain wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, among other literary masterpieces. It’s very small, and as one observer has noted, you can’t take more than two steps inside, but its many windows give it a lot of light.
The last octagon considered in this article, in Camillus, a suburb of Syracuse, is distinguished because of what went on inside when there wasn’t much light. It was built in 1856 by Isaiah Wilcox, a devoted deacon of the Baptist Church and staunch abolitionist who closely adhered to the building plans of Orson Fowler. He put the kitchen in the basement and used a dumbwaiter to send up meals to the dining room, and he collected rainwater from the eaves with a cistern. But it was in a deep cellar area off the kitchen that the house’s most important work was carried out, helping runaway slaves escape along the Underground Railroad. Hiding them in the house was facilitated by its circular stairs, which were accessible from all rooms, the basement, and the attic, helped by doors that opened from room to room.
Considering that Syracuse was one of the nation’s foremost Underground Railroad terminals during the 1850s, it would be surprising if the home of a Baptist deacon and staunch abolitionist was not used to hide runaway slaves on their way to Canada. The house is now a museum operated by the Town of Camillus, open every Sunday from 1:30 to 5 p.m.
It seems octagon buildings have enough stories in them to write a book. Not that this series will turn into one, but it will continue next month with more on octagon houses in New York State.

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