Octagon Architecture

The Octagon House, on East Paris Avenue in Kentwood, Michigan, was built in 1855 by Sluman and Delia Bailey. The design of the house was based on the design of builder Orson Fowler, who wrote in his 1848 book, The Octagon House: A Home For All, that houses without right angles allowed for more sunlight and provided a healthy spiritual, physical and psychological environment. The house is considered a significant historic example of the octagon mode of building popularized by Fowler.

The Octagon House has exterior walls comprised of a limestone/sand mixture known as "gravel wall" construction (an old form of concrete) and is supported by huge log timbers common to that era. The hand-hewn beams supporting the main floor are still in place, complete with the wooden pegs, which hold them together. It was rumored to be a stop in the Underground Railroad, which served as a haven for runaway slaves prior to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Sluman and Delia Bailey were long-time farmers and horticulturalists in Paris Township and also prominent in civic affairs. Sluman Bailey served as township supervisor, collector for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, justice of the peace, sheriff of Kent County, clerk of the board of elections and school inspector. Their home on East Paris was a hub of social and political movement for the area. Their home was in the family for over 100 years, and therefore is a centennial farm and in 1975 was placed on the Michigan Registry of Historic homes. In 2001 the City of Kentwood designatedthe Octagon House, as it's first Historic Landmark. The Octagon House is the only remaining octagon structure in Western Michigan from the Fowler era of construction (1840-1860), and has had only five owners since being built.

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