Congratulations to Heritage Square Museum of Highland Park for the long-awaited re-construction of the Longfellow House veranda. The Longfellow is a California state treasure that we are lucky to have here in Los Angeles: there are few octagonal homes remaining in the nation, and the trend was even more rare here in the west. In this blog I will syndicate my more serious scholarly work, beginning with my 2007 study of octagonal American homes of the 19th century.
The Octagon Home, a Product of the 19th Century Romantic Age of Architecture
Maggie Wineland
The octagonal home is the truly unique type of American architecture of which many Americans have never heard. It is a symmetrical octagon with eight walls of varying lengths, and from one to 5 stories, depending on the size of house desired. By the year 1900 several hundred various octagons had been built across the nation and even into Canada. The sudden enthusiasm for the shape can be traced to a single source, Orson Fowler, who in 1857 finished a book on how he was constructing his own octagonal mansion. Although the age of industrialization saw many revolutionary developments in architecture, few were as innovative as the octagonal dwelling, which Fowler purports in his book to have so many conveniences and advantages as to render obsolete all other domestic building styles of the day. It is of interest to examine how this architectural trend and the man who begun it were indicative of the post-industrial and 19th century Romantic era in which they developed.
Looking at the Fowler octagon, it’s at first difficult to see any relationship to the romance revival architectural notions surrounding it. The plain, round, symmetrical shape is in stark contrast to the asymmetrical, romantic, brick-and-stone castellated or decorative gothic styles with frilly wood decorations which we see in the decades immediately previous. Fowler’s creation was almost devoid of decorative elements, with even the quaint cupola atop being of the functional value of lighting the central, windowless stairwell. No sentimentality existed in the style of the physical building.
Although Fowler decried the expense and pretense of decorative enhancements typical of the Gothic style, ridiculing those who build a “… try-to-be-extra-exquisite monument of gewgaw crudeness”, the concept of a self-made home and hearth for the good of the individual and family were ideas of the romance era. Do-it-yourself building and natural materials like lime and stone fit well with this ethic as well. His homemade home and self-sufficient cistern and orchards embody the period’s “independent spirit of individuals”, while his desire to use the best technology available, install conveniences, and focus on functional practicality above decoration was too a feature of American romanticism. The romantic period above all carried the notion that Americans who worked hard deserved a noble home of their own, and Fowler worked to convince them that with this building method they should and could have it.....
Looking at the Fowler octagon, it’s at first difficult to see any relationship to the romance revival architectural notions surrounding it. The plain, round, symmetrical shape is in stark contrast to the asymmetrical, romantic, brick-and-stone castellated or decorative gothic styles with frilly wood decorations which we see in the decades immediately previous. Fowler’s creation was almost devoid of decorative elements, with even the quaint cupola atop being of the functional value of lighting the central, windowless stairwell. No sentimentality existed in the style of the physical building.
Although Fowler decried the expense and pretense of decorative enhancements typical of the Gothic style, ridiculing those who build a “… try-to-be-extra-exquisite monument of gewgaw crudeness”, the concept of a self-made home and hearth for the good of the individual and family were ideas of the romance era. Do-it-yourself building and natural materials like lime and stone fit well with this ethic as well. His homemade home and self-sufficient cistern and orchards embody the period’s “independent spirit of individuals”, while his desire to use the best technology available, install conveniences, and focus on functional practicality above decoration was too a feature of American romanticism. The romantic period above all carried the notion that Americans who worked hard deserved a noble home of their own, and Fowler worked to convince them that with this building method they should and could have it.....
