Hexagon House

Built by the architect Brice Leatherman for James W. Burgess between 1871 and 1873, the six-sided house was designed to open up interior space and let in more natural light. The short-lived fad for octagonal (eight-sided) houses was introduced just before the Civil War on similar principles. Partially influenced by Orson S. Fowler’s The Octagon House: A Home for All, a handbook that popularized the polygonal house as the most practical and healthful plan for Americans.