Octagon House - History

History

Early examples, before Fowler:

  • Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's private retreat and plantation house near Lynchburg, Virginia.
  • William Thornton's Tayloe House, more commonly called The Octagon House in Washington, DC. After the White House was burned by the British during the War of 1812, President James Madison stayed in the Octagon House, and it was here that the Treaty of Ghent (ending the War of 1812) was signed. It is now the headquarters of the American Institute of Architects.

Both houses are large brick buildings in the classical tradition. They may be seen as precursors, but are somewhat different from the Victorian octagon houses which are essentially domestic structures.

Read more about this topic:  Octagon House

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “The custard is setting; meanwhile
    I not only have my own history to worry about
    But am forced to fret over insufficient details related to large
    Unfinished concepts that can never bring themselves to the point
    Of being, with or without my help, if any were forthcoming.”
    —John Ashbery (b. 1927)

    “The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
    —Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)

    “The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”
    —Karl Marx (1818–1883)