Capt. Rodney J. Baxter House

Infobox_nrhp | name =Capt. Rodney J. Baxter House
nrhp_type =


caption =
location= South and Pearl Sts., Barnstable, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 41
lat_minutes = 39
lat_seconds = 0
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 70
long_minutes = 17
long_seconds = 6
long_direction = W
locmapin = Massachusetts
area =
built =1850
architect= Orson S. Fowler
architecture= Other
added = March 13, 1987cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Private
mpsub=Barnstable MRA
refnum=87000273

Capt. Rodney J. Baxter House is an octagonal house in Barnstable, Massachusetts that was built in 1850. It appears to be the only house explicitly credited by the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) to having been designed by Orson S. Fowler that both survives and is listed on the National Register. [Assertion based on searching by architect name, in [http://www.nr.nps.gov/nrname1.htm NRIS database search system] .] Orson Fowler is known for having advocated octagonal house design, promoted through an architectural pattern book "The Octagon House, A Home for All" that he wrote and which was the basis for designs of numerous houses. It seems this house is explicitly described in Orson Fowler's book, or it explicitly follows a design given in that book. Other houses built according to Fowler's designs also survive and are listed on the NRHP. [See octagon house and List of octagon houses]

To quote in full about this house from the NRHP's Barnstable Multiple Resource Assessment (page 27, of a document in the public domain):quote|Octagon houses enjoyed a short-lived popularity in the 1850s when they were promoted by Orson Squire Fowler. Fowler's object was to providde affordable housing, with modern conveniences. Barnstable's sole example of the octagon style is a particularly fine one which survives intact, with its carriage house, despite a precarious location in central Hyannis. The "Captain Rodney J. Baxter House (HYC78, South and Pearl Streets, c1850-56)" is a two story octagon with 18" thick concrete walls. It is trimmed with a bracketed wooden cornice and a wooden verandah with spindle turned posts and a decorative iron balustrade. A second entry has a simpler bracketed hood. The interior of the house contains two large square rooms, with leftover triangular spaces used for closets; this plan was one illustrated by Fowler in his book "The Octagon House, A Home for All". A matching concrete octagonal carrige (sic) house stands southeast of the house.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://www.nr.nps.gov/multiples/64000271.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Historic Resources of the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts / Barnstable Multiple Resource Area] |32 KB|date=July, 1987 |author=Sarah J. Zimmerman, Candice Jenkins, and Betsy Friedman |publisher=National Park Service]

It was listed on the NRHP in 1987.

References