Petty-Roberts-Beatty House
Encyclopedia
The Petty-Roberts-Beatty House, also known as the Octagon House, is an historic octagonal house
in Clayton
, Alabama
. The structure was one of only two antebellum
octagonal houses built in Alabama
and is the only one to survive.
This unusual house was built by Benjamin Franklin Petty starting in 1859 and completed in 1861. Petty was a carriage and furniture merchant who was a native of New York and pioneer settler of Clayton. The house was patterned after a design made popular by Orson Squire Fowler
's book, A Home For All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building which was published in 1854.
In April
1865, the house was used as staff headquarters for Union Cavalry Commander General Benjamin H. Grierson
. Petty's heirs sold the property to Judge and Mrs. Bob T. Roberts in 1901. In 1981, under the administration of Mayor Edward C. Ventress, the property was purchased from the estate of Mary Roberts Beatty Armistead by the Town of Clayton which has overseen its renovation.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places
on January 21, 1974.
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...
in Clayton
Clayton, Alabama
Clayton is a town in and the county seat of Barbour County, Alabama, United States. The population was 1,475 at the 2000 census.-History:County Seat of Barbour County...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. The structure was one of only two antebellum
Antebellum architecture
Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...
octagonal houses built in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and is the only one to survive.
This unusual house was built by Benjamin Franklin Petty starting in 1859 and completed in 1861. Petty was a carriage and furniture merchant who was a native of New York and pioneer settler of Clayton. The house was patterned after a design made popular by Orson Squire Fowler
Orson Squire Fowler
Orson Squire Fowler was a phrenologist who popularized the octagon house in the middle of the nineteenth century....
's book, A Home For All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building which was published in 1854.
In April
April
April is the fourth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and one of four months with a length of 30 days. April was originally the second month of the Roman calendar, before January and February were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC...
1865, the house was used as staff headquarters for Union Cavalry Commander General Benjamin H. Grierson
Benjamin Grierson
Benjamin Henry Grierson was a music teacher and then a career officer in the United States Army. He was a cavalry general in the volunteer Union Army during the American Civil War and later led troops in the American Old West...
. Petty's heirs sold the property to Judge and Mrs. Bob T. Roberts in 1901. In 1981, under the administration of Mayor Edward C. Ventress, the property was purchased from the estate of Mary Roberts Beatty Armistead by the Town of Clayton which has overseen its renovation.
The house 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...
on January 21, 1974.