OCS West by the Estabrook Octagon House
PAR 1 and 2 the famed pair of ex CN FP9As lead a deadheading OCS train westbound on Pan Am Southern's former Boston and Maine west end at MP 443 approaching the River Street crossing. At left is the historic 1853 Estabrook Octagon House which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ezra Estabrook was inspired to build the house by Orson Squire Fowler's A Home for All, or a Cheap, Convenient and Superior Mode of Building, which came out in a revised edition in 1853. Fowler, a phrenologist who dabbled in architecture, was intrigued by polygonal forms found in nature and adapted for use by man. In his book he advocated the octagonal form since it could be built by the homeowner at a low cost.
Estabrook followed Fowler's advice and did most of the building work himself. He followed Fowler's plan exactly, including the cupola and alternating one-two fenestration. His only change was the material. Fowler had called for the wall to be made of a mixture of water, lime and an aggregate, since they were widely available around the country. The Estabrooks chose the Rosendale cement-grout mixture along with coarse local gravel since it was locally available and had proven more durable.
His descendants lived in the house for almost a century, until 1943. There have been very few alterations to the interior. It is one of the few surviving octagon houses built as Fowler had originally intended.
Hoosick Falls, New York
Sunday September 27, 2020
OCS West by the Estabrook Octagon House
PAR 1 and 2 the famed pair of ex CN FP9As lead a deadheading OCS train westbound on Pan Am Southern's former Boston and Maine west end at MP 443 approaching the River Street crossing. At left is the historic 1853 Estabrook Octagon House which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ezra Estabrook was inspired to build the house by Orson Squire Fowler's A Home for All, or a Cheap, Convenient and Superior Mode of Building, which came out in a revised edition in 1853. Fowler, a phrenologist who dabbled in architecture, was intrigued by polygonal forms found in nature and adapted for use by man. In his book he advocated the octagonal form since it could be built by the homeowner at a low cost.
Estabrook followed Fowler's advice and did most of the building work himself. He followed Fowler's plan exactly, including the cupola and alternating one-two fenestration. His only change was the material. Fowler had called for the wall to be made of a mixture of water, lime and an aggregate, since they were widely available around the country. The Estabrooks chose the Rosendale cement-grout mixture along with coarse local gravel since it was locally available and had proven more durable.
His descendants lived in the house for almost a century, until 1943. There have been very few alterations to the interior. It is one of the few surviving octagon houses built as Fowler had originally intended.
Hoosick Falls, New York
Sunday September 27, 2020