Though this octagonal home for sale in Deer Isle may seem like an oddity, there’s actually a long history of these sorts of many-sided houses being built in Maine.
A single-family octagonal home at 73 Pearl Drive near downtown Deer Isle on a 3.4-acre lot is on the market for $389,000. The home is 3,000 square feet, has one bathroom and one bedroom, but there’s an upstairs loft that could be converted into a second bedroom, according to listing agent Parker Allen with Downeast Properties.
An artsy couple who live on Deer Isle built the home in 1992 as a residence for an older relative, Allen said.
“They found the octagon to be a little more artistic and unique,” said the listing agent.
Since that relative died a few years ago, the homeowners are now selling the octagonal house.
Though the property is certainly unique, it’s not one-of-a-kind. Octagonal homes have been around since ancient Greece but came into vogue in New England in the 19th century.
Prominent phrenologist Orson Squire Fowler popularized the style by writing a book, published in 1848, called “The Octagon House: A Home for All.” The book claimed octagonal homes made better use of living space and were more heat efficient than square or rectangular houses.
Fowler thought circular homes were the best shape in terms of maximizing natural light and airflow, but they were more expensive to build, so he settled on octagonal floor plans as the next best thing and argued all homes should be built in that style.
Though most of Fowler’s claims about octagonal houses being aesthetically and materially superior have been debunked — he was a prolific pseudoscientist — his book nonetheless created an architectural fad. Some 1,500 octagonal homes were built in nearly 40 states in the next century, with most being constructed in New York and New England, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
According to an educational website about octagonal homes, 532 of these homes are still standing around the U.S., and there are 21 left in Maine. One of the site’s operators, Ellen Puerzer, notes that the list is “likely an undercount,” and since the home in Deer Isle doesn’t make that list, she’s probably right. The Farmington Historical Society, which owns an octagonal house at 120 High St., claims there are 19 in Maine.
This Deer Isle home was not built in the 1800s, and it certainly differs from typical octagon houses from that era. It’s only one story high, rather than the traditional two, has a raised rather than a flat roof and does not have a cupola.
Though there isn’t proof to back up Fowler’s claims that the octagon home makes better use of space and conserves heat, Parker Allen said the Deer Isle home’s owners thought it was a fabulous design. They believed it allowed for plenty of natural light and for greater socialization, he said. And it’s certainly a good conversation starter.
“They’d have these large dinner parties, and the way the house was worked well for them,” Allen said.