Architectural Landmark

By Barbara LaMonica

While driving down Prime Avenue, you will notice an eight-sided house across from Heckscher Park.
 
Located at 41 Prime Avenue, this unique structure, known as the Prime House, is one of only 68 remaining octagon houses in the United States listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The octagon house movement gained popularity in the mid-19th century, largely due to an interesting man named Orson Fowler (1809–1887). Though best known for promoting this architectural trend, architecture was not Fowler’s first passion. He was an early advocate of the pseudoscience of phrenology, or the belief that the shape and size of the skull could reveal a person’s character and mental capabilities. In 1843, he published one of the earliest self-help books, The Perfection of Character, and went on to write numerous works on phrenology.
 
Fowler opened a phrenology practice in New York City, where he attracted a number of prominent figures, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Brigham Young, James Garfield, and Mark Twain. Walt Whitman, after visiting Fowler, became deeply interested in phrenology, and the two developed a close friendship. Fowler even published an early edition of Whitman’s "Leaves of Grass".
 
Fowler's progressive ideas extended well beyond phrenology. He wrote on women's rights, child labor laws, vegetarianism, hydrotherapy, physical fitness, sexuality and campaigning against women wearing corsets. Despite his many interests, Fowler’s most lasting legacy lies in the field of architecture and his promotion of the octagon house.

Orson Fowler

In 1848, Fowler published a book titled, A Home for All “to cheapen and improve human homes and specially to bring comfortable dwellings within the reach of the poorer classes…”. Fowler argued that the octagon shape was more cost effective, used the same amount of building materials as traditional homes and provided more floor space. The house accommodated more windows, which allowed for increased light and air and ultimately benefited health. Fowler also discovered an inexpensive building technique by using gravel, lime and sand to create concrete for molds for the exterior of the house. 
 
Fowler’s book went through several printings as the octagon house design caught on. Octagon houses began to appear all over the country, especially in New York State. At one time, there were over 100 houses. During the spiritualist craze of the 19th century, many spiritualists built octagon houses with the belief that there were no deep corners to harbor evil spirits during their séances. Unfortunately, after the economic panic of 1873, many of these homes fell to ruin, fire, or were torn down.

The Prime Octagon House was built in 1859 for Ezra Prime, (1810-1898), a wealthy silversmith and owner of one of the first thimble factories in America, established in 1836. Prime was a member of a prominent Huntington family, being the great - grandson of Ebenezer Prime, (1700-1779), who was minister of the Old First Church from 1719-1779.

Prime Octagon House

Prime was a wealthy landowner whose properties included what is now Heckscher Park, and with land extending to both sides of Main Street. His thimble factory was on the corner of Main and Prime, and being a silversmith, he also owned a jewelry store on Main Street, as well as orchards and other farmlands.

The house is a two-story eight-sided structure with 18-inch stucco walls and a flat roof. It is not known whether Prime lived there himself or rented to his employees.  He also built a second octagon house next door on the corner of Lake and Prime Avenue, which was rented out as a boarding house. This house was torn down in 1938

Octagon House on the Corner of Prime Avenue and Lake Street

After Prime's death the house had several owners, but by the 1920s, it fell into disrepair. In 1945, well-known architect John Klaber bought the house and faithfully restored it to Fowler's design concepts. The original porch was removed and replaced by a smaller gable roof entrance porch with columns. A modern garage was connected to the northwest side of the house by a roof breezeway.

The Prime Octagon house intersects with the history of Huntington manufacturing, a prominent Huntington family, and a unique architectural movement. 
 
List of remaining octagon houses: Octagon Houses Collection | New York Heritage
Fowler’s book still in print: https://www.amazon.com/Octagon-House-Home-All/dp/1626542651