Property Record
1410 17TH AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Gen. Francis H. West House |
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| Other Name: | The Octagon House |
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| Reference Number: | 16179 |
| Location (Address): | 1410 17TH AVE |
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| County: | Green |
| City: | Monroe |
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| Year Built: | 1860 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1976 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Octagon |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | West, Gen. Francis H., House |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1975 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. Octagon houses briefly became a nationwide architectural fad in the mid-nineteenth century. This house is unique in Wisconsin, for it combines three octagons and a rear wing into a plan resembling a three-leafed clover. One lobe houses public spaces: the parlor, the dining room, and a study. A second encloses the family room and the kitchen. A third contains the bedrooms, and the wing contains a library. Although West created a functional design, he also paid close attention to decorative details, such as scroll brackets with knob pendants under the eaves and cornice. Inside, he laid an intricate octagon-pattern parquet floor. He also installed a gravity-based plumbing system and a funnel-like ventilation system that drew cool breezes from the cupola into the floor below--both advanced ideas at the time. In the 1850s, before building this house, West served as a state senator, and during the Civil War he led the Thirty-First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Octagon Houses in Wisconsin. Monroe Evening Times 2/19/1955. Monroe Evening Times 7/1/1958. Wisconsin State Journal 7/30/1962. Monroe Evening Times 6/7/1961. Monroe Evening Times 6/8/1961. Monroe Evening Times 6/9/1961. Monroe Evening Times 6/10/1961. Monroe Evening Times 10/13/1948, p. 12. Freeport Journal Standard 11/22/1949. Capital Times 6/11/1954. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. Perrin, Richard W. E., Historic Wisconsin Architecture, First Revised Edition (Milwaukee, 1976). |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |