Octagon Houses

image

For a brief time in the USA, eight-sided houses were a thing. Based on the crackpot theories of one fellow.

The example above can be found in my native Rhode Island. I used to marvel at it all the time when I was younger.

Read the history here.

Order a book here.


     Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 20, 2014
     Category: Buildings and Other Structures | Eccentrics | Nineteenth Century





Comments
Cool house Paul, I have always liked houses that are unusual! It's even cooler that it is the result of advanced planning that caused it to be so! :lol: :coolsmile:
Posted by Tyrusguy on 10/20/14 at 09:08 AM
How dumb are we supposed to be? Here's what I got from Wikipedia, "They are characterised by an octagonal (eight-sided) plan".

So, Octagon Houses were octagonal (eight-sided) in shape. A marvel of an explanation.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/20/14 at 09:55 AM
I think they were built all over the country. There are several here in Connecticut. In Montville there is a hexagonal house. Try thinking outside the box!
Posted by John Ayer on 10/20/14 at 01:36 PM
In the 60's it was 'dome homes', based on Fuller's geodesic domes. Artsy, but hard to furnish.
I found Frank Lloyd Wright's hexagon-based homes (i.e. Hanna House) more creative and adaptable, with the added bonus that noise does not seem to reverberate in a hexagonal room.
Posted by tadchem on 10/20/14 at 03:06 PM
I wonder how Orson Squire Fowler would feel if he knew that today the only place you're likely to find anyone in an octagon is at a mixed martial arts event.
Posted by Rocket J. Squirrel on 10/20/14 at 03:34 PM
If I built one it would be a sextagon which I think isn't a real word though. It's ratios would be 6x6x6 🐍
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 10/20/14 at 05:43 PM
I think that is close enough to correct BD, especially as I know what you'd be doing in there! 😜
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/20/14 at 07:08 PM
I think these suffer the same interior-division problems as a dome.

A zome solves a lot of those (a dome is like cutting a ping-pong ball in half, a zome is like cutting an egg in half) by giving you two long, relatively flat walls.

If you didn't make it a regular hexagon (all walls the same length), you could lessen the effect of the corners and add a lot of usable space.
Posted by Phideaux on 10/20/14 at 07:51 PM
I have been inside an octagon house. The floor plan is very well-thought out. Lots of light, usable space, and fun nooks and crannies for playing hide-and-seek.
Posted by ScoutC on 10/20/14 at 08:09 PM
Unusual and most furniture is designed for square or rectangle rooms and not pie shaped ones.
Posted by Gator Guy on 10/20/14 at 08:58 PM
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.