David Van Gelder Octagon House
Encyclopedia
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 1870's.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1998.
Catskill (town), New York
Catskill is a town in the southeast part of Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 11,775 at the 2010 census. The western part of the town is in the Catskill Park....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The brick house was built in 1860. It is architecturally significant as an example of an octagon house
Octagon house
Octagon houses were a unique house style briefly popular in the 1850s in the United States and Canada. They are characterised by an octagonal plan, and often feature a flat roof and a veranda all round...
. The eight-sided plan was made popular in the mid-19th century by phrenologist Orson Squire Fowler
Orson Squire Fowler
Orson Squire Fowler was a phrenologist who popularized the octagon house in the middle of the nineteenth century....
. 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 1870's.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1998.