A Delightful Victorian Octagon House - 1856 - detailed floor plans

Regular price $49.95

Shipping calculated at checkout.
  • Building name: Leete-Griswold House
  • Designer/Architect: Edwin A. Leete (after Orson Fowler)
  • Date of construction: 1856
  • Location: Guilford, Connecticut
  • Style: Queen Anne Victorian Style Home
  • Number of sheets: 8 sheets measuring 18" x 24"

Sheet List

  • Cover Sheet
  • Basement Plan, 1/4"=1'-0"
  • First Floor Plan, 1/4"=1'-0"
  • Second Floor Plan, 1/4"=1'-0"
  • Attic Plan, 1/4"=1'-0"
  • 2 sheets, Elevations, 1/4"=1'-0"
  • Section & Detail, various scales

Have I got a delight for you! Here are plans for a charming Octagon home, modest in size but with all the spaciousness you'd expect from a Victorian country house. The mid-1800s saw a brief flurry of interest in the Octagon type plan, due to the publication of Orson Squire Fowler's imaginative book, The Octagon House; A Home for All. This book proposed the construction of homes in concrete, ground breaking technology of the time, and the use of the octagon as a plan because of its efficiency. The octagon has a high volume for its surface area, which means more energy efficiency and less material cost, compared to a rectangular home of equal area.

The Leete-Griswold house follows closely Fowler's recommendations. Built over a full basement, the ground floor has 4 principal rooms and several smaller storage/utility areas. If I was adapting this plan, I would join the north-west and south-west rooms into one larger L-shaped space and make it a Kitchen/Family room. The other 2 principal rooms would be Living and Dining.

The upper floor has a mix of room shapes and sizes that could easily be adapted to allow 3-4 bedrooms and at least 2 baths. The low attic is lit by a cupola which would be an ideal play space, keeping the children's toys and games out of the living room. The cupola could also serve as a home office or similar type use.

The prints you are purchasing are crisp, high resolution black line copies on white bond paper. Any photos shown in the description are informational only and are NOT included in your purchase. The original, public domain drawings were prepared by the Historical American Building Survey and rest in the Library of Congress.

SHIPPING: Your drawings are shipped to you, rolled, not folded, in a Priority Mail tube. This listing includes architectural prints ONLY. Any photos shown in the description are for information only and are NOT included in your purchase. Thanks.

IMPORTANT - IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO BUILD: These plans are NOT complete architectural drawings as will be required by your local permitting agency and do not contain all the structural, waterproofing and other details and information necessary for construction. Nor are they designed to meet current building codes. These are measured drawings of actual historic American homes that provide accurate design information about these homes. Your local builder or architect should be able to adapt these drawings and add to them as necessary.

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: Orders shipped to addresses outside the USA may be subject to customs duties at their destination. The buyer is responsible for any such duties.

(VI020)