A sanctuary for homes
The Heritage Square Museum is easy to zip by, unnoticed, on the perilous 110 freeway. It consists of eight late-19th-century Victorian structures saved from demolition over the years and moved here from their original locations around Los Angeles. Open to the public, the museum offers guided tours and hosts a number of special themed events throughout the year.
One of the houses particularly stands out due to its unusual octagonal shape. It represents a rare style of Victorian design that didn’t catch on. The architect behind the vision was Orson Fowler, considered an eccentric at the time. The house was commissioned by Gilbert Longfellow and built in 1893. He and his wife, Hannah, had raised their several children in an octagonal home built by Fowler on the Atlantic coast. But when Hannah and two of their sons died of tuberculosis, Gilbert moved the family west to Los Angeles in search of cleaner air and more temperate weather. He hired Fowler to build them another octagonal house in Pasadena.
Info
Address 3800 Homer Street, Los Angeles, CA 90031, +1 323.225. 2700, www.heritagesquare.org | Getting there Unmetered street parking | Hours Fri–Sun 11:30am–4:30pm. Guided tours depart hourly, noon–3pm, no self-guided tours allowed. Admission: a $10 adults, $8 seniors, $5 kids(12 & under).| Tip Check out the nearby Lummis House (200 E Avenue 43, Los Angeles, CA 90031), a stone craftsman home built during the same era as the Fowler house.
Compared to the ornate and colorful Queen Anne Victorians, Fowler’s design is minimalist. The exterior colors are muted with virtually no decorative flourishes. Many interiors of typical Victorian homes are compartmentalized with small rooms that ramble, isolated from one another. Inside the octagon home, the space is open, allowing for a flow of unhindered movement from room to room. Natural light floods in through windows that encircle the house and through the cupola, a small structure on the roof with windows for walls.
Lumber and construction costs were kept down due to each side of the house being of uniform length, requiring shorter spans of wood. Improved air circulation resulting from the many windows reduced heating and cooling costs. Fowler extolled the affordability of this style of home in his book, The Octagon – A Home for All, published in 1848.
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