Property Record
W7758 PERRY ROAD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | WILLIAM EUSTIS HOUSE |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | OCTAGONDA FARM |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 6526 |
| Location (Address): | W7758 PERRY ROAD |
|---|---|
| County: | Jefferson |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Oakland |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 6 |
| Range: | 13 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 11 |
| Quarter Section: | NE |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SE |
| Year Built: | 1848 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20132018 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Octagon |
| Structural System: | Stone |
| Wall Material: | Stucco |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| 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. DENTICULATED CORNICE. PORCH WRAPS 4 SIDES. ORIGINAL ROOF WAS TIN. William Eustis, born in New York, settled in Sangamon County, Illinois. After the death of his wife in 1846, he relocated to the Town of Oakland where he constructed an octagonal house two years later. In 1852, he was elected to the state legislature and served two terms. Later, he served as the Town of Oakland assessor and supervisor. He died in 1884. This building recalls the octagon-house fad that started in New York and swept across much of the country in the 1850s, with Orson Fowler’s 1848 publication of A Home for All. Of the many octagons built in Wisconsin, the Eustis House, constructed soon after Fowler published his book, is perhaps the earliest one still standing. It is also the plainest, with dentils along the cornice providing the only ornamentation along the plain limestone walls, coated with plaster. A one-story porch with simple, slender columns wraps around two of the house’s eight faces. Inside, the two-story house has four large rooms on each floor, plus smaller triangular rooms, shaped by the octagon's contours. 2018 - Resurveyed, appearance unchanged since 2013 survey. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. Swart, Hannah. Koshkonong Country – A History of Jefferson County Wisconsin. Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin: W. D. Hoard & Sons Co., 1975. Page 217. THE OCTAGON HOUSE AND THE COBBLESTONE BUILDING IN WISCONSIN, P. 4, UWEX, 1978. Cumberland Advocate 7/14/1932. Daily Jefferson County Union 8/15/1957. Jefferson County Union 7/31/1936. Wisconsin State Journal 2/10/1952. Wisconsin State Journal 3/9/1952. Daily Jefferson County Union 10/18/1956. Daily Jefferson County Union 8/14/1962. Daily Jefferson County Union 8/21/1957. Wisconsin State Journal 4/29/1960. Daily Jefferson County Union 10/1/1968. Jefferson County Union 8/21/1972. Milwaukee Journal 7/25/1943. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |