Orson S. Fowler

Home for All the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building, a Orson S. Fowler

In 1848, Orson Squire Fowler, published A Home for All, or a New, Cheap, Convenient, and Superior Mode of Building in which he announced that the octagon house with its eight sides enclosed more space than a square one with equal wall space. The octagonal form had been used in public buildings in the past, but now as a concept for domestic architecture it had a dedicated and convincing champion. Fowler's books, stressing the functional and stylistic advantages of the octagon house, found many readers and several hundred followers who sprinkled the landscape from New England to Wisconsin with eight-sided houses, barns, churches, schoolhouses, carriage houses, garden houses, smokehouses, and privies. Fowler's creative idea for an octagon house came to him while contemplating a design for his own home. He wondered why there had been so little advancement in architectural design, particularly given the preponderance of scientific advancements. Looking for a radical change in house style, Fowler questioned why the spherical form that is predominant in nature was not employed in architecture. The constraint of right angles for the framing of houses was the obvious reason. Fowler thought "Why not have our houses six-, eight-, 12-or 20-sided? Why not build after some mathematical figure?" The solution: the octagon. Since octagons enclose more floor space per linear foot than comparable squares or rectangles, Fowler claimed they cost less to build and reduced heat loss. He also insisted octagons allowed in more sunlight and had better ventilation than conventional houses; owners of these unusual homes found that the improved light and ventilation went into the triangular closets and pantries that occupied the octagons' angles.