Estabrook Octagon House
Encyclopedia
The Estabrook Octagon House, built in 1853 by Ezra Robinson Estabrook, is a historic octagonal house located at 8 River Street (NY 22
) in Hoosick Falls
, New York
. It was constructed in strict accordance with the theories of Orson Squire Fowler
, author of A Home for All.
It is preserved intact, and is one of the few remaining octagon houses that was built exactly as Fowler advocated. On February 8, 1980, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
.
The house has been altered slightly, however. It was a pleasing feature of the house that the balustrade design, which appears on the roof of the house, had been repeated in different scales also on the roof of the porch and on the cupola.
at the corner of River Street and the tracks laid down by the Boston and Maine Railroad. The neighborhood is residential, with most other houses dating to the 19th century as well.
It is two stories high, faced in stucco
over walls built of a mixture of grout
and Rosendale cement
. A small square porch projects from the east side. The facets have an alternating fenestration of one and two windows. The roofline is decorated with a dentiled bargeboard
. Above it is an intricate wood crest, and behind it several small dormer windows with trim similar to the roofline. Two chimneys rise from the similarly trimmed cupola
in the center of the hipped roof
.
The interior plan has four large rooms on each level with the staircase around the central post. The smaller rooms serve support functions, such as bathrooms and closets.
's A Home for All, or a Cheap, Convenient and Superior Mode of Building, which came out in a revised edition in 1853. Fowler, a phrenologist
who dabbled in architecture, was intrigued by polygonal forms found in nature and adapted for use by man. In his book he advocated the octagonal form since it could be built by the homeowner at a low cost.
Estabrook followed Fowler's advice and did most of the building work himself. He followed Fowler's plan exactly, including the cupola and alternating one-two fenestration. His only change was the material. Fowler had called for the wall to be made of a mixture of water, lime and an aggregate
, since they were widely available around the country. The Estabrooks chose the Rosendale cement-grout mixture along with coarse local gravel since it was locally available and had proven more durable. Ezra Estabrook kept a diary during construction, in which he records pouring as much as one foot (25 cm) a day of the mixture between wooden forms.
His descendants lived in the house for almost a century, until 1943. There have been very few alterations to the interior. It is one of the few surviving octagon houses built as Fowler had originally intended.
New York State Route 22
New York State Route 22 is a north–south state highway in eastern New York in the United States. It runs parallel to the state's eastern edge from the outskirts of New York City to a short distance south of the Canadian border. At , it is the state's longest north–south route and...
) in Hoosick Falls
Hoosick Falls, New York
Hoosick Falls is a village in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 3,182 at the 2010 census, a decline of 254 since 2000. During its peak around 1900, the village had a population of about 7,000...
, 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...
. It was constructed in strict accordance with the theories of Orson Squire Fowler
Orson Squire Fowler
Orson Squire Fowler was a phrenologist who popularized the octagon house in the middle of the nineteenth century....
, author of A Home for All.
It is preserved intact, and is one of the few remaining octagon houses that was built exactly as Fowler advocated. On February 8, 1980, it was added to 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...
.
The house has been altered slightly, however. It was a pleasing feature of the house that the balustrade design, which appears on the roof of the house, had been repeated in different scales also on the roof of the porch and on the cupola.
Building
The house is on a two-acre (8,000 m²) lotLot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
at the corner of River Street and the tracks laid down by the Boston and Maine Railroad. The neighborhood is residential, with most other houses dating to the 19th century as well.
It is two stories high, faced in stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
over walls built of a mixture of grout
Grout
Grout is a construction material used to embed rebars in masonry walls, connect sections of pre-cast concrete, fill voids, and seal joints . Grout is generally composed of a mixture of water, cement, sand, often color tint, and sometimes fine gravel...
and Rosendale cement
Rosendale cement
Rosendale cement refers to a type of natural cement produced in and around Rosendale, New York from argilaceous limestone. The fast-setting Rosendale natural cement mortars proved to be more efficient than the traditional mortars based on lime and sand...
. A small square porch projects from the east side. The facets have an alternating fenestration of one and two windows. The roofline is decorated with a dentiled bargeboard
Bargeboard
Bargeboard is a board fastened to the projecting gables of a roof to give them strength and to mask, hide and protect the otherwise exposed end of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof to which they were attached...
. Above it is an intricate wood crest, and behind it several small dormer windows with trim similar to the roofline. Two chimneys rise from the similarly trimmed cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
in the center of the hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
.
The interior plan has four large rooms on each level with the staircase around the central post. The smaller rooms serve support functions, such as bathrooms and closets.
History
Ezra Estabrook was inspired to build the house by Orson Squire FowlerOrson Squire Fowler
Orson Squire Fowler was a phrenologist who popularized the octagon house in the middle of the nineteenth century....
's A Home for All, or a Cheap, Convenient and Superior Mode of Building, which came out in a revised edition in 1853. Fowler, a phrenologist
Phrenology
Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...
who dabbled in architecture, was intrigued by polygonal forms found in nature and adapted for use by man. In his book he advocated the octagonal form since it could be built by the homeowner at a low cost.
Estabrook followed Fowler's advice and did most of the building work himself. He followed Fowler's plan exactly, including the cupola and alternating one-two fenestration. His only change was the material. Fowler had called for the wall to be made of a mixture of water, lime and an aggregate
Aggregate (composite)
Aggregate is the component of a composite material that resists compressive stress and provides bulk to the composite material. For efficient filling, aggregate should be much smaller than the finished item, but have a wide variety of sizes...
, since they were widely available around the country. The Estabrooks chose the Rosendale cement-grout mixture along with coarse local gravel since it was locally available and had proven more durable. Ezra Estabrook kept a diary during construction, in which he records pouring as much as one foot (25 cm) a day of the mixture between wooden forms.
His descendants lived in the house for almost a century, until 1943. There have been very few alterations to the interior. It is one of the few surviving octagon houses built as Fowler had originally intended.
See also
- List of octagon houses
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Rensselaer County, New York