Looking for a home in this tight market? Consider an octagon.

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
In the mid-19th century, an offbeat architectural fashion swept the country: the octagon al house.
It was said that houses shaped octagons were healthier and more efficient than conventional homes - and some 1,500 were built in North America.
Most of the claims made by Orson S. Fowler, the leading proponent of the octagon, have been refuted. But these homes still have their dedicated fans.
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Looking for a home in this tight market? Consider an octagon.
A 19th-century fashion, octagonal homes aren't for everyone. But that's another thing to love about them.
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As a subscriber, you have 10 gift items to offer each month. Anyone can read what you share.
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By Jim Zarroli
Photographs by Tony CenicolaDecember . 9 2022
Lawrence Mauro is used to strangers staring at the 1860 octagonal house he owns in Stockport, New York. But one day, a few years ago, the curiosity got out of hand.
"I had dislocated a disk," he said, recalling that he was in a lot of pain and had to go to the hospital. "And the two paramedics come in with the stretcher, a...

Fashion Dec 10, 2022 0 114 Add to Reading List

Looking for a home in this tight market? Consider an octagon.

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

In the mid-19th century, an offbeat architectural fashion swept the country: the octagon al house.

It was said that houses shaped octagons were healthier and more efficient than conventional homes - and some 1,500 were built in North America.

Most of the claims made by Orson S. Fowler, the leading proponent of the octagon, have been refuted. But these homes still have their dedicated fans.

Supported by

Continue reading main story

Looking for a home in this tight market? Consider an octagon.

A 19th-century fashion, octagonal homes aren't for everyone. But that's another thing to love about them.

Send a story to any friend

As a subscriber, you have 10 gift items to offer each month. Anyone can read what you share.

By Jim Zarroli

Photographs by Tony CenicolaDecember . 9 2022

Lawrence Mauro is used to strangers staring at the 1860 octagonal house he owns in Stockport, New York. But one day, a few years ago, the curiosity got out of hand.

"I had dislocated a disk," he said, recalling that he was in a lot of pain and had to go to the hospital. "And the two paramedics come in with the stretcher, a...