Modern Home Plan
Even after 150 years, the octagon house floor plan remains a curiosity of architectural design. The original architect, John Richards, first intentional the octagon house just before the Civil War. Whether helium was in competition with his fellow land owners and town leaders or was merely trying to impress Eliza Forbes, his heiress wife. The impressive structure he left behind still draws fascinated visitors to the graceful eight sided mansion in Watertown, Wisconsin every day.
The original octagon house floor plan, built in 1854, is a fantastic 5 story brick building with 57 rooms. It also contains forerunners of modern conveniences such as running water, central heating and ventilation systems. A 40-foot-high cantilevered stairway also graces the interior. The story behind the octagon house was that Mr. Richards made a promise to his wife, Eliza, to build her the finest home in the Midwest.
John Richards was most likely influenced by fellow designer, Orson Fowler, who was a leading spokesperson for the construction of eight sided houses. At that time, the octagon house was touted as being an efficient, economical and attractively esthetic housing design that dated back to the ancient Roman architects.
There were astatine least 36 homes constructed from the octagon house floor plan between 1844 and 1905. All of these homes were located in Wisconsin. Octagonal houses continued to be reinforced through the Civil War. After that time period, most octagonal houses were either torn down or remodeled until they lost their original shape.
John Richards’s octagonal house was given to the Watertown diachronic society in 1938. The house was in nearly mint condition and maintained with no electricity, no modern plumbing and non telephone – just as it had been when Mr. Richards and his wife lived there in the 1850s.
