{"nrhp_refnum":"79000820","name":"Octagon House","other_names":["Hawley House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"223 W. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Barrington","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":42.15394548000006,"lon":-88.13901921599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-03-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, eight-sided wood-frame house at 223 West Main Street in Barrington, Cook County, Illinois, built around 1860 by a builder identified as Mr. Brown.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a rare, well-preserved octagonal building that combines the decorative cottage style popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing with the octagon plan promoted by Orson S. Fowler. Its carved, jigsawed woodwork is described as nearly impossible to find in structures built after 1900. It is also presented as an example of builder-made architecture drawn from pattern books, without an architect.","narrative":"Built around 1860 in Barrington, Illinois, this two-story octagonal house is framed and clad entirely in wood. A porch encircles it, with roof brackets carved on a foot-pedal jigsaw and finished by hand, and matching screens that hide the foundation. The builder, identified as Mr. Brown and said to have come from New England, fastened the structure with hand-forged nails and glue. Inside, the rooms are divided conventionally so no octagonal corner shows, and the leftover spaces serve as coat nooks and a stair closet. The design reflects two mid-nineteenth-century publications: Andrew Jackson Downing's 1850 book on country houses and Orson Fowler's 1853 book promoting octagonal homes. The nomination values the house for its uniqueness, noting that few octagonal buildings survive in the Midwest and fewer remain in such good shape. Two small rear additions did not disturb its readable eight-sided plan or its decorative scrollwork.","period_of_significance":"c. 1860","architect_builder":"Mr. Brown, builder","architectural_style":"Octagon house form with Downing-influenced cottage-style decorative woodwork","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in good condition and occupied as a private residence. Two small additions were made at the rear, one before 1920 and one after 1951, and the nomination says they did not harm the house's integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.540446-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/8921/28892180/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79000820.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000820/dd674f6c4c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000820/dd674f6c4c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"G LeTourneau","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Octagon_House_(Barrington,_IL)_02.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">G LeTourneau</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Octagon_House_(Barrington,_IL)_02.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"86001047","name":"Barrington Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/barrington-historic-district-86001047/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892180","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octagon_House_(Barrington,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7076708"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/octagon-house-79000820/"}