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Fonthill, or Fonthill Castle as some call it, is on the National Register of Historic places as well as a NYC Landmark building. The building consists of six octagonal towers of varying dimensions and heights, joined together. It was built for Edwin Forrest, a famous 19th century Shakespearean actor. The architect is claimed by some to have been Thomas C. Smith of NYC. Barbaralee Diamondstein, in her book - Landmarks of New York - states that "the design has been attributed to Alexander Jackson Davis."
Construction started in 1848 and completed in 1852. Forrest never occupied the house. He and his wife were divorced and the large property was sold to the Sisters of Charity who founded Mt. St. Vincent College at the site. Fonthill was used variously as a library and offices by the college.
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Likely a 1950s photo. |
A 1985 photo. |
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Photo from 1939. |
Photo from the 1950s. |
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Sig Sautelle's Circus winter quarters, built in 1905 in Homer N.Y. It is a three story 55' octagon building, built to look like a circus tent. It has ten bedrooms each with a closet on the second floor. The first floor has five large rooms and three smaller rooms 80% of the original tin walls and ceilings are intact on both the first and second floors. It has a full 55' octagon basement and a 45' octagon third floor attic. On top of it all is a 10' octagon cupola and seven dormers.
The round house is at 80 Cortland Street. It is dated from pre-1865. Information below from 1982 Building-Structure Inventory. "It's a clapboard structure with vinyl siding, and a metal roof. The Vinyl siding was added in 1978. Other additions and alterations include a new porch base, one-over-one double hung sash windows, and an ell to the east, which was originally used as a residence, and is now a kitchen.
The first name associated with the Round House is Joseph Conger, a cooper and one of the founding members of the Baptist Church. He was the son of Ino Conger of Freetown. It is speculated that the building was erected in its round form as a type of advertising for Conger's trade.
Deed research performed in the late 1940s produced the following list of owners:
April 1, 1865 Joseph Conger and wife to Alanson Benjamin
Jan 7, 1878 Alanson Benjamin to Charles H. Bouton
Jan. 7, 1878 Charles H. Bouton and wife to Harriet Benjamin
July 8, 1889 Harriet W. Benjamin to Charles H. Bouton
Feb. 8, 1890 Charles H. Bouton and wife to Reuben P. Fish
March 29, 1899 Reuben P. Fish and wife to Mary Mack
December 11, 1909 Randolph Mack to Harry Mack (his son)
March 3, 1919 Harry Mack to Lewis and Ella Albro
Mrs. Ella Albro died and Mr. Albro remarried. He passed away in 1947 and his widow continued to live in the residence. Ellis and Wanda Hopkins have occupied the residence since 1957. They rented the home from Mrs. Frank Albro until she passed away. They bought the home in 1968.
Alanson Benjamin's daughter Harriet was married to Charles Bouton in this house on October 15, 1867. Charles Bouton was in the pork and produce business and later built the three buildings at 4 Broome Street. Reuben P. Fish was a farmer and superintendent of the Marathon cemetary (sic). Randolph Mack was also a farmer and for a time owned a hardware business.
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Our Red Hook Public Library, New York, is a 10 room octagonal house, begun October, 1864, and finished December, 1865, built by Allan Barringer Hendricks. The foundation is poured concrete made with Rosendale Cement. It is virtually unchanged from the page 171 photo in The Octagon Fad by Carl F. Schmidt, 1958 and in remarkably intact condition.
Hendricks lived in the house for over 60 years. After his death, at age 93 , it stood empty for several years. In 1935, it was purchased by the Red Hook Public Library (chartered June 27, 1898) for $3,850. It cost $900 to renovate and $1,289.40 for furniture. Most of this was donated as memorials.
The original roof was slate. Round iron pillars were used on the porch and replaced by wooden pillars when the library was renovated. The outside walls are covered in stucco.
The original kitchen and dining room were in the basement, open to the garden. The furnace room and storage room are located against the hill. There were four bedrooms and a bath on the top floor which is now used as an apartment by the caretaker. Only one room over the stairs is v-shaped. The corners are used for the closets.
The first two photographs below show the house as it appeared in 1939:
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Rhinebeck NY b. 1860 by attorney Ambrose Wager -- 6484 Montgomery Street (Route 9), Rhinebeck. It appears on the Rhinebeck map of 1876. Aka The Reed House.
(Wager later built an 2nd empire mansion also still standing). . Its owner's mother in law, Mrs. Harry H. Hill , had an ugly addition put on the back c 1935, however the front of the house is fairly original with the octagon.
The the same family has owned it since about 1900. Maybe the plans are in the house, however nobody ever gets in there. The owner does not allow the public in the house because she was warned by the BCI NEVER to open her house for a nonprofit event as it's too hard to secure. It is on a huge village lot, about 12 acres, with barn, outbuilding, etc. that backs right up to the fairgrounds property, which the family inherited through Edward Livingston as their g-g-g grandfather Garret Van Keuren was Livingston's financial secretary. The house is listed in the National Landmark District for Rhinebeck which at the time (c 1980) was the largest district of its kind in New York State.
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'The house is located on the Factoryville Road in Crown Point, NY see photo below taken today. I can recall that 20 years ago some of the gingerbread decoration along the edge of the roof still existed. Grey's 1876 Atlas of Essex County,NY, plate 18, map of "Factoryville" indicates the house occupied by one "C.P. Fobes" '
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"A rephotographed picture I took of a photo of my dad's octagon house in Crescent (New York,Saratoga County). The original photo was believed to have been taken, based on research by my dad, in the late 1870s. Not to many years later, gable roofs were added and the cupola removed. The house, built in 1853, originally overlooked the Erie Canal crossing the Mohawk River on the Crescent Aqueduct . The build date is based on half-dimes dated 1853 that were found inside the walls during renovation work. When the Barge Canal was built in the early 1900's, replacing the Erie Canal, the new dams elevated the river pool so that the house is now surrounded on two sides by the river. The road that used to service the front of the house in the 1800's is now underwater and a new road was built behind the house, Church Hill Road. The floor plan is quite well laid out. The original front of the house used the two corners for double door entrances and for spiral stairways to the second floor. There is a central fireplace with hearths on two opposing main floor rooms. The original kitchen was in the basement with a dumb waiter that serviced the dining room. The house is quite large with sixteen foot sides. My mom and dad lived there over fifty years and I grew up in the house with my sister. I'm also including for your information, a picture of the Crescent Aqueduct taken sometime before 1915. Church Hill can be seen in the background, The octagon house was further to the right (east) just out of the picture as the hill went back down to the water."
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A person familiar with the house provides the following:
" The Prime Octagon House was constructed circa 1859. It is Huntington’s only example of the octagon style of architecture. The architect and builder are unknown. The house reflects the innovative architectural concepts of Orson S. Fowler, the designer and promoter of the octagon style. It is a two story structure with stucco walls and a nearly flat hipped roof. The building is distinguished by a projecting denticulated cornice with brackets and a square cupola with ventilator panels. The paired six over six double hung sash windows have heavily molded surrounds and bracket supported window sills.
The house is loosely patterned after the plans of the John J. Brown house in Willamsburgh, New York. The projecting bracketed cornice and paired windows with bracket supported sills were copied from the Brown house plans.
The original wrap around porch was removed in the mid-twentieth century and replaced with a smaller gable roof entrance porch with square columns. The interior of the house is relatively unaltered and retains its wall and ceiling finishes, trim, flooring and overall plan. The first floor was built with Rosedale cement and gravel dug from the cellar. The second floor is composed of brick with stucco coating. The exterior walls are 18 inches thick. The general condition of the house is excellent.
The house is historically associated with Ezra C. Prime, the prosperous local thimble manufacturer. Born in Huntington, Prime worked in the silver business in New York City and opened his own factory producing thimbles. Prior to his factory being opened, all thimbles sold in the United States were imported from Europe. By 1859, Prime had the octagon house built, although it is not known whether it was for his own use or that of an employee. By 1860 he had opened Prime Avenue from Main Street to Mill Lane and owned land on both sides. He proceeded to build a dam on his property and used the water power to operate his factory. Prime’s business flourished until the 1880's. Today, Heckscher Park occupies the site of Prime's thimble factory and the Octagon House remains as one of two unaltered structures associated with Huntington's nineteenth century industrial development and the locally prominent Prime family."
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As Orson S. Fowler said "Every living thing must have its habitation." Carmen & Terry have found their perfect 21st Century habitation to be in a 19th Century Octagon House. This home was built for General DuBois in the mid 19th Century, approximately 1850-1855. It is located in Marlboro,
The DuBois/Sarles Octagon House, which was built around the 1850's by an unknown architect, stands proudly on three acres of mature landscaping at the end of the Village. It is a practical home full of all the amenities and practical facilities for the entire family of the 19th Century coupled with all the conveniences of modern times plus the benefits of functionality. This home has been built for the conveniences of both sexes. It has a solid practical foundation built out of bricks, cement, and stone while its interior design was arranged to facilitate the purposes of the different rooms. All the rooms in the house are easily accessible from each to all, connected by doors, stairs and entry ways. All the rooms in our home are conveniently located to each other, facilitating a smooth navigation throughout the house, encouraging family interactions and making housework less strenuous.
Terry & Carmen's Octagon House, listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the DuBois/Sarles Octagon House was given national historical acknowledgment in
This home has served as a perfect private heaven for only three families: the DuBois Family, Sarles Family, and Elizondo/Clouse Family and stands as a successful realization of the dream of having the perfect habitation.