James Coolidge Octagon Cobblestone House
| James Coolidge Octagon House]] | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | 7271 Main St., Madison, New York |
| Coordinates | 42°53′52.82″N 75°31′1.6″W / 42.8980056°N 75.517111°W ⧼validator-fatal-error⧽ |
| Built | c.1850[1] |
The James Coolidge Octagon Cobblestone House in the village of Madison in Madison County, New York, built around 1850,[1] is a rare example of an octagon house that is also a cobblestone house.[2][3]
It is denoted "Mad-5, Gerow" in the Cobblestone Structures Catalog of the Cobblestone Society and Museum; its owner of record, as of 1904, was Gerow. The catalog editor noted: "Octagon House is a correct descriptive term in this case as it does have eight sides. The front five visible sides are equal in size and geometrically correct for a symmetrical octagon configuration; however, the three rear sides are different with a larger center wall with a single story wing attached, and two smaller adjacent walls."[1]
It is asserted by Schmidt (1966) that this is "the only cobblestone residence ever to be erected."[4]
It is believed by Albion, New York's Cobblestone Society and Museum[1] and by writer Richard Palmer[5] (whom the Cobblestone Society and Museum cites in addition to other sources) to be the only octagonal cobblestone house existing.
The Coolidge Cobblestone Octagon House is located on US-20 in Madison, Madison County, New York.[6] It is located in the Village of Madison which is in the Town of Madison, which is in Madison County.
If it was in fact built in 1840, then according to Shelgren, Lattin and Frasch (1978) its style foretold the coming of Italianate architecture.[7]
Palmer (2018?), on the other hand, notes that the house "features the same plain unostentatious early Italianate styling that Fowler himself proposed in his drawings. The simple cornice with its overhanging eaves is right out of the book. But this house also features exquisite twin column framing on either side of the entrance door, a reminder of the Neo-Classical elegance that was still popular in the United States."[5] Orson Squire Fowler's book, The Octagon House: A Home For All, is said to have first been published in 1848; its printing by Fowlers and Wells is dated 1850.[8]
What became the Italianate architectural style in the U.S. was popularized by Alexander Jackson Davis, developing out of his "bracketed style"(?), in the 1840s and 1850s, working in the Hudson River Valley. This, however, was Fowler's region, too: the first Octagon house, known as Fowler's Folly, was located in Fishkill, New York, overlooking the Hudson and was widely visible. It was built of concrete beginning in 1848, the year of publication of his book, and was ultimately demolished --by dynamite -- in 1897.
There does exists another cobblestone octagon building: it is located at 8273 Alloway Road in Lyons, New York in Wayne County, New York, built originally as a blacksmith shop.[9] It was built for a Mr. Hyde and has 12.5 feet (3.8 m) sides.[9][5]
Any more Quotes to take??? The Richard Palmer text published (with an error, but otherwise self-evidently authoritative) on blacklisted site:[5] "Only Existing Cobblestone Octagon House: This is believed to be the only cobblestone octagon house in existence, at 7271 Main Street in the village of Madison. It was built by James Coolidge 1850 who also built what is now known as the Landmark Tavern [which is NRHP-listed as Coolidge Stores Building ] in nearby Bouckville. Ground level inspection suggests this house is not a true octagon. However an aerial view confirms that it is. This may have originally been a common rectangular cobblestone house with the cobblestone effect added later. The other existing cobblestone building is a blacksmith shop in the hamlet of Alloway near Lyons, N.Y."[5]
"Age of the Octagon House: / When Orson Fowler launched his octagon house crusade in 1848, he succeeded, at least for a while. His book went through some nine editions all through the 1850s. His architectural argument was simple: With an octagon form, you use fewer materials and hence less money while gaining more space. A circular form is the best and the octagon comes closest. To pragmatic Yankee builders in New York State more than anywhere else, the argument made sense, hence their overwhelming popularity there over any other state. / But his argument went further. An octagon also maximized window space, hence light. In the whale oil or burning fluid days before kerosene lamps or electricity, this also was attractive. And we need not overlook the curb appeal of having an octagon house, something all the neighbors could talk about. Having one built out of New York State's native cobblestone construction only made an octagon even more special. / This octagon features the same plain unostentatious early Italianate styling that Fowler himself proposed in his drawings. The simple cornice with its overhanging eaves is right out of the book. But this house also features exquisite twin column framing on either side of the entrance door, a reminder of the Neo-Classical elegance that was still popular in the United States. / But one feature this house has that is a radical departure from Fowler's simple octagon is the long rectangular section splitting the octagon in two. Why? Well a simple answer might be a desire for more space without resorting to a giant octagon. But another possibility is that it rectifies a basic problem that all octagons had: lack of wall space against which to place your furniture. / Simply put, multiple oblique angles plus frequent windows do not leave much space for furniture, a rather serious drawback. How does one fit a dresser in an oblique corner? You can't. So the only space left is the back wall opposite the windows, but then that is where all your doors and rooms have to be. It was a major problem for octagon house owners with furniture. / This house solves that problem, using Yankee ingenuity, by creating a straight section between the half octagons. The best of both worlds? It certainly makes for a unique house. / It is believed there were between 4,000 to 6,000 octagon buildings constructed, only which only about 400 still exist. For further information on octagon buildings go to: http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/main_page.html"[5]
The Wayback Machine captured much of the same passage, closing off sooner, and signed by (D.Hanna, PhD) not unsigned and hence attributed by this Wikipedia editor to Palmer, who evidently posted the texts and photos. This was apparently posted in September 2016, while the above version was apparently posted in March 2018. The Hanna passage has no date given. It could have been written much earlier. Caption which was apparently below photos reads:
7271 Route 20, north side, village of Madison, built by James Coolidge in 1850, the same builder of the Cobblestone Store (Landmark Tavern) in Bouckville. The fact that this is not a full octagon house suggests the octagon facade may have been a later addition to an already existing structure of an earlier period.
Main passage starts:
When Orson Fowler launched his octagon house crusade in 1848, h
It ends:
This house solves that problem, using Yankee ingenuity, by creating a straight section between the half octagons. The best of both worlds? It certainly makes for a unique house. (D. Hanna, PhD).
It was posted 2016/09 at URL which cannot be stated.
The 3rd version, with D. Hanna name attached, is at Cobblestone Museum's site(?), at https://www.cobblestonemuseum.org/CobblestoneStructuresCatalog/CMPubs/Age%20of%20the%20Octagon%20House.htm It ends with (D. Hanna, PhD) then "It is believed there were between 4,000 to 6,000 octagon buildings constructed, only which only about 400 still exist. For further information on octagon buildings go to: http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/main_page.html." That last appeared in one of Palmer's versions. As of 9/1/2022 the bobanna.com page is dead, but at Wayback machine it is there in full. 127 captures from 2004 until this one, 2021-10-28 done. https://web.archive.org/web/20211028120921/https://www.octagon.bobanna.com/main_page.html Near top is "This site is copyrighted (c) 2002, 2016-17 by Robert Kline, and developed and maintained by Robert Kline and Ellen Puerzer. Many photos are copyrighted or controlled. Please mention this site if using any of the information contained herein. Write for permission to use photos and you'll be directed to copyright owner. / We recieve many unidentified photos via emails. If you own the rights to a photo on this site, please let us know and we will add a photo credit." But is this same or different than Dale Travis site? Dale Travis is credited for a photo within Canada section i notice. --Doncram (talk) 06:06, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
The 3rd version also links out from the phrase "Having one built out of New York State's native cobblestone construction only made an octagon even more special." linking to https://www.cobblestonemuseum.org/CobblestoneStructuresCatalog/Mad-5%20Gerow%20Mad-7.htm, where photos of the house appear. It includes same 3 photos as at Palmer's, with credit explicitly to him. And it includes 11 other photos with credits.
The Kline site RE this house can be seen in Wayback at its section for Madison County.https://web.archive.org/web/20211019013805/http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/NY_A_M.html Eight photos are identified, you have to left-click to see them, or they are at:
- Two images at one url:
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120914175234/http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/images/madison_ny_1.jpg
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120916124327/http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/images/madison_ny_2_protected.jpg
... but I sent too many requests to Internet Archive for a while
- https://web.archive.org/web/20211019013805/http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/images/madison_ny_6.jpg Not archived.
Dale Travis's site on Round Barns is http://www.dalejtravis.com/
Ontario barns are two:
http://www.dalejtravis.com/barn/ontario/htm/on03502.htm
http://www.dalejtravis.com/barn/ontario/htm/on03203.htm S of Osgoode one i got
But he does not have the more spectacular one.
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It has a Greek Revival-style entrance framed by doric columns.[3]
Its exterior walls have an air space built in.[4]
It has very prominent cut limestone quoins.
The Coolidge House has cut stone quoins.[6]
Last three sources at Gerow page to review:
- Mid-York Memoranda by Scott Phoenix, Mid York Weekly, Hamilton, NY, 1/28/1965. Shows the house, asserts it was built in 1936 by William Cleveland, who was also responsible to a great degree" for the Bouckville store, known also as Cleveland Store or similar?
- AGe of the Octagon House passage is attributed to [https://www.cobblestonemuseum.org/CobblestoneStructuresCatalog/Acknowledgments.htm#Hanna David Hanna It appears Palmer just copied it into his blog? Other parts are copied articles.
- The American Cobblestone House By Jackie Craven
Updated on April 12, 2018: Shows LVKlock photo of this house, and states "Octagon houses are unusual enough, but look more closely at this one in Madison, in upstate New York. Each of its sides is stuck with rows of rounded stones! What's that all about?" in ThoughtCo
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Cobblestone Structures Catalog: Mad-5, Gerow". Cobblestone Society and Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2022. Includes 14 photos of the house.
- ↑ Jackie Craven (April 12, 2018). "About the Cobblestone Houses in New York and Other States".
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "James Coolidge Octagon Cobblestone House, circa 1850". The Cobblestone Museum.
One of a handful of Octagon Cobblestone Houses [sic. was "Buildings" intended?] (Cobblestone researcher, Carl Schmidt cites this as the only cobblestone residence ever built.) This beautiful example was built by James (John) Coolidge in about 1850. The entrance is Greek Revival with Doric columns at each side of the door. The early image is 1960s (Peteritch) and the modern image is courtesy Wikipedia Commons. Can be seen at 7271 Main Street, Madison, NY.
Facebook posting of The Cobblestone Museum. Includes four images. - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Carl Schmidt (1966). "The Octagon House".
The only cobblestone octagon residence ever to be erected, is in the village of Madison. It is now the property of Mr. James Gerow. These walls are built of rounded fieldstone of various sizes, shapes and colors. The cobblestones project beyond the mortar joints, but the mortar joints were left rough by the mason. While in the process of repairing the walls, Mr. Gerow discovered that an air space was built into the exterior walls.
This is an excerpt from page 38 in "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt. For information about Schmidt, see Cobblestone Museum's acknowledgements to Schmidt. - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Richard Palmer (March 2018). Cobblestone structures of North America. Published online; accessed September 1, 2022. Source includes three photos of the James Coolidge octagon house. Note the web-published text confusingly omits the word "octagonal" from sentence: "The other existing [octagonal] cobblestone building is a blacksmith shop in the hamlet of Alloway near Lyons, N.Y.", which otherwise makes no sense in context. For info about Palmer, see Cobblestone Museum's acknowledgements to Palmer.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Coolidge Cobblestone Octagon House on US Route 20 in Madison, Madison County". New York Heritage Digital Collections. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
- ↑ Olaf William Shelgren, Jr.; Cary Lattin; Robert W. Frasch. "Madison County, House, Route 20, Madison".
The vogue for building octagonal houses swept across the state, and country, about the same time as the vogue of building cobblestone houses. Orson Squire Fowler popularized the octagonal house through writing and lectures. The corners of this house are formed with limestone quoins. The entrance is Greek Revival, with two complete diminutive Doric columns at each side of the door. Molding profiles are Greek Revival. If the roof projection, with its brackets, is original it foretells the coming of the Italianate style. The house is supposed to have been built in 1840, and it is also reputed to have an airspace in the exterior walls for added insulation.
This is page 156 in Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State, 1978, by Olaf William Shelgren, Jr., Cary Lattin, and Robert W. Frasch, Photographs by Gerda Peterich. - ↑ "A Home for All: Or, A New Cheap, Convenient, and Superior Mode of Building, by Orson Squire Fowler (1850)". Internet Archive. There is a downloadable PDF version.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Although Few Remain, Here Are New York's Best Octagon Houses". CNY. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
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