VIRGINIA

Albemarle County

• North Garden. Octagon church. It might have been a school at one time.
  
  

  Left click on the image below for a larger version.

  

  
  
  Source: Ellen Puerzer. "Two Centuries of Black American Art," by David C. Driskell, published by the Los Angeles County Musueum of Art and Alfred A. Knopf, 1976, page 21. Submitted by Ginger Hill.
  Entered: March, 2010.

Arlington County

• Arlington. One of 3 octagon houses built here, pre 1860. Possible headquarters of General Irwin McDowell during the Civil War - according to an old Civil War picture of the octagon house which identifies it as McDowell's headquarters. Recent books list it as General John Sedgewich headquarters. It's possible they both used it during the Civil War, or that one claim is in error.
  
  This was a simple 8-sided structure but had a sweeping verandah across the front. The flat roof held a tall cupola. Each window on the cupola was shuttered. McDowell would later headquarter at Arlington House. The time of its demise is unknown but a photo of the house exists.
  
  

  Left click on the images below for larger versions.

  
  There appears to be a ladder on the roof leading to the cupola, perhaps for use as an observation post.
  
  Source: Ellen Puerzer.
  Entered: September, 2011.
• Arlington. The Glebe octagon house. Built after 1857 by Clark Mills. Located at 4527 17th Street North. Two story. Large octagonal cupola. The only one of three octagon houses in Arlington still standing.

  The house is actually a large wing of an earlier house. The Glebe House, first built in 1777, burned down and was rebuilt in 1820. In 1857 the octagonal front portion was added. The octagon is the prominent portion of this house with the earlier structure acting as a wing. It has a circular porch. The cupola has sawed running trim along the edge and windows on alternate walls. The angles of the house have pilasters. It served as a hunting lodge.

  State Senator Frank L. Ball, Sr. resided here for many years prior to it serving as National Genealogical Society headquarters. Its been restored as a private residence. Not to be confused with the McDowell octagon house, which, while similar, has 12 panes. This Glebe octagon extension has 16 panes in the windows. It is on the Historic Register and the only one of the 3 Arlington octagons to survive.

  
  
  

  Left click on the images below for larger versions.

  
  
  Photograph..
  
  Sources: Dale Travis. Ellen Puerzer. Dennis Gannon.
  Entered: September, 2003.
  Updated: April, 2009.
  Updated: September, 2011
  Updated: December, 2011
• Arlington. Built before 1861. Now gone.

  The house was a bit more architecturally fanciful than the other two in Arlington. The tall cupola had tall thin windows The second floor windows rose up into the cornice and were flanked with decorative paired brackets. The front porch encircled the house on the first story with a gallery on the second floor. (Neither of the other 2 Arlington houses had a second floor gallery.)

  This was located a mile outside Alexandria on the pike to Leesburg, today Route 7. General Henry Warner Slocum turned this and Powell house into hospitals and installed Amy Morris Bradley as lady superintendent. In 1862 the troops marched to Centreville and abandoned the hospitals.

  This one has a narrower cupola and brackets. Plus every alternate sides have paired windows.

  
  
  

  Left click on the image below for a larger version.

  

  
  
  The image above was taken in 1861, when the house was being used by Confederate soldiers during the US Civil War. In March of 1862 the house ceased to be used as a hospital.
  
  Sources: Dennis Gannon. Ellen Puerzer.
  Entered: June, 2009.
  Updated: September, 2011
  Updated: December, 2011

Bedford County

• Near Lynchburg. "Poplar Forest"; octagon house. Built by Thomas Jefferson in 1804-1819.
  
  Photograph..
  
  Photograph..
  
  Source: Dale Travis.
  Entered: September, 2003.
  Sources: M. Culver; The Octagon Fad, p. 118; Ron Livingston, who provided a pointer to a photograph.
  Updated: February, 2002.

Frederick County

• Winchester. Glen Burnie hexagon house. Built between 1871-1874 by James W. Burgess. Located at 530 Amherst Street. Brice Leatherman may have been the architect. Large hexagonal cupola. Located at the intersection of Amherst Street and Hawthorne Drive. Two story. Brick construction. A widow's walk surrounds the central chimney, The interior is thought to be 80% original. The original milk glass light fixtures have been replace with more elaborate gas or candle chandeliers retrofitted for electricity. Some plaster walls have been replaced with drywall.
  
  In 1987 the house was going through the process of qualifying for NRHP status. The information below is from that application, and provides historical background about the house.
  
  

  Left click on the images below for larger versions.

  
  
  The left hand photograph above, top row, was taken in the spring of 2007. The middle photograph above, top row, is from the NRHP. The right hand photograph, bottom row, shows the color of the house before recent paint work was done.
  
  Photograph.
  
  Floor plan - cellar
  
  First floor plan
  
  Second floor plan
  
  Sources: R. Kline. Dale Travis provided photographs. Sandra Bosley provided photographs and the floor plans. Ellen Puerzer provided historical information.
  Entered: February, 2002.
  Updated: September, 2003.
  Updated: December, 2008.
  Updated October, 2009

Grayson County

• Mouth of Wilson. Octagon house. The Round House was built in 1874 by Dan Idol. Still standing.
  
  From the Grayson HS:
  
  "A few years back I was contacted by a gentleman from Missouri who owned another round house built there by Idol some years later. This gent wanted a photo of the Grayson house, so Rich and I trekked to it and sent him a couple. Never heard from him again. The house has not been lived in for a number of years and would be extremely expensive to restore. The two floods you mentioned were in 1916 and 1940. It is said that only the chimney of the house was visible during these floods."
  
  "And Mary Davis wrote:The roundhouse was my family's house, three generations having lived there at one time or another. I've attached some photos of it, the one with the family was taken around 1900 (Tom and Jeannette Duncan with Agnes and Mattie). My siblings and I are now scattered about the country, but we, too, lived in the roundhouse for a glorious year around 1959. A glorious year because the river provided non-stop entertainment. My understanding is that the house survived two floods, both of which covered it entirely. One of the floods was in the 1940s and I have a newspaper clipping which describes it."
  
  

  Left click on the images below for larger versions.

  
  
  Sources: Ellen Puerzer. Ginger Ballard Grayson County, Virginia Heritage Foundation. and Mary Cox Davis.
  Entered: October, 2009.

Independent City County

• Poquoson. Hexagon lighthouse building. York Split Light. Built 1855. Screwpile construction. Two story. Second story smaller. Light and walkway.
  Photograph and history.
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.

King County

• West Point. Octagon lighthouse building. Built in 1881. Single story. Cupola, which houses the light, and walkway.
  
  Photograph and history.
  
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.

King William County

• Aylett. Octagon house. Two story.
  Source: R. Kline.
  Entered: September, 2002.

Middlesex County

• Deltaville. Hexagon lighthouse building. Stingray Point Light. Built in 1858. Screwpile construction. Single story. Light and walkway.
  Photograph and history.
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.

Montgomery County

• Christianburg. Round house. Age unclear. Architecture unusual. Located at 303 S. Franklin.
  
  Photograph..
  
  Source: Dale Travis.
  Entered: September, 2003.

No County

• Fort Eustis. Nearest city is Newport News. Octagon lighthouse building. Deep Water Shoals Light. Built in 1868. Single story. Cupola, which houses the light, and a walkway. Demolished in 1966.
  
  Photograph and history.
  
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.

Norfolk County

• Norfolk. Octagon lighthouse building. Built in 1859. Two story. Second story has four dormers. Cupola, which houses the light, and a walkway.
  
  Photograph and history.
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.

Northumberland County

• Coles Point. Octagon lighthouse building. Ragged Point Light. Built in 1910. Screwpile construction. One story, two dormers, cupola with light and walkway.
  Photograph and history..
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.
  
  
• Near Fleeton. Hexagon lighthouse building. Great Wicomico River Light. Built in 1889.
  Photograph and history.
  
  Source: Ron Livingston
  Entered: March, 2002
  
  
• Reedville. Hexagon lighthouse building. Windmill Point Light. Built in 1869. One story, cupola, light and walkway. Screwpile construction.
  Photograph and history..
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.
  
  
• Sunnybank. Octagon lighthouse building. Smith Point Light. Built in 1897. Two story, square cupola, light.
  
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.

Powhatan County

• Northwest of Midlothian. Round House. Built in 1713. Located on the Keswich Plantation.
  
  Photograph..
  
  Source: "More About Octagons," Carl Schmidt, and Dale Travis, who supplies the photograph.
  Entered: October, 2002.
  Updated: September, 2003.

Rockingham County

• Grottoes. Octagon house. The Stephen Harnsberger House. Built in 1856. Located at 1403 Holly Ave. Two story. Brick. Excellent condition
  
  The owners relate the following information:
  " Additionally, the house is known as the Stephen Harnsberger House. It is listed on the Virginia and National Registry of Historic Places. Stephen Morgan Harnsberger lived from November 30, 1827 to November 11, 1863. The Harnsbergers lived in the Shenandoah Valley for at least three generations prior to the erection of this house and were of German Swiss origin. The oldest section of the house is a summer kitchen enclosing (reputedly) the largest fireplace in Rockingham County which dates from 1790. We have been told that the federalists occupied the house twice during the War Between the States.
  
  Stephen's brother Robert Samuel Harnsberger built an octagonal barn a few years after Stephen built his house. It is on a side road off of Weyers Cave Road between Grottoes and Weyers Cave. "
  
  The barn is listed in Augusta county.
  
  

  Left click on the images below for larger versions.

  
  
  Sources: Roberta Mitchell and Peter Calvert, the current owners.
  Entered: September, 2003.
  Updated: September, 2003.
  Updated: December, 2003.
  Updated: December, 2011
• In Harrisonburg, Octagon house. Appears to be 1860s construction. Located at 292 Liberty Street. Two story. Porch on three sides.
  
  

  Left click on the images below for larger versions.

  
  
  Photograph.
  
  Sources: Dale Travis. Ellen Puerzer.
  Entered: September, 2003.
  Updated: June, 2010
  Updated: December, 2010
• Southeast of Broadway. Octagon wing of a house. Appears to be pre 1900 construction. Exact location unknown. Two story. Porch on at least three sides.
  
  Photograph.
  
  Source: Dale Travis.
  Entered: September, 2003.

Smyth County

• Near Marion. Octagon house. Mountain View." Built by Abijah Thomas in 1856. Located on the South Fork, in the southwest region of the state, at 631 Octagon House Road. Details in a book, "Abijah Thomas and the Octagon House," written by Mack Sturgill, available in the Smyth-Bland Regional library in Marion.
  
  Photograph..
  
  Cecilia Hoff provides a Photograph. of the house as it appeared in the 1970s.
  
  

  The house in September, 2009

  
  
  Deborah Brent, who supplied the photos of the house in September, 2009, believes the house was last occupied in the late 1930s or the early 1940s. It appears to be well beyond repair now. There are indications that it once had a large porch, which a historic photograph might show.
  
  Sources: R. Kline. Dale Travis and Cecilia Hoff supplied the photographs. Deborah Brent
  Entered: March, 2001.
  Updated: September, 2003.
  Updated: March, 2006.
  Updated September, 2009

Suffolk County

• Suffolk. Octagon lighthouse building. Built in 1878. One story. Cupola, which houses the light, and a walkway.
  
  Photograph and history.
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.

Warwick County.

• Newport News. Hexagon lighthouse building. White Shoal Light Station. Built in 1871. Screwpile construction.
  Photograph and history.
  
  Source: Ron Livingston
  Entered: March, 2002

Westmoreland County

• Stratford. Octagon structure. Age and function unclear, although, located on a plantation it might well be quite old. Single story. Located at 485 Great House Road.
  
  Photograph..
  
  Source: Dale Travis.
  Entered: September, 2003.

York County

• Near Yorktown. Octagon lighthouse building. Pages Rock Lighthouse. Built in 1893. One story. Cupola, which houses the light, and a walkway.
  Photograph and history.
  Source: Ron Livingston.
  Entered: March, 2002.