{"nrhp_refnum":"95000050","name":"Rich-Twinn Octagon House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"145 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Akron","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":43.02209014700003,"lon":-78.49543088299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-02-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, eight-sided frame dwelling built in 1849 for Charles B. Rich at 145 Main Street in Akron, Erie County, New York. It is now a house museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a rare and very early surviving example of the octagon mode in Western New York and the only one in Erie County. It reflects Orson S. Fowler's octagon house ideas and combines late Greek Revival features with unusually early Italianate elements. It is also one of the most distinguished 19th-century residences in Akron.","narrative":"Built in 1849 at the corner of Main Street and Parkview Drive in Akron, this two-story, eight-sided frame house was erected by Charles B. Rich, a local grain merchant and New York Indian agent. Rich and his wife reportedly admired an octagon house in the Hudson Valley and built a similar home on their return. The house follows ideas promoted by Orson S. Fowler, and it is the only octagon house in Erie County. It has a heavy timber frame, flushboard and clapboard siding, a hipped roof with a bracketed cornice, a wraparound verandah and an octagonal cupola. Inside, many rooms are pentagonal or triangular, and the first floor has marble fireplaces. Its Greek Revival details and very early Italianate elements add to its interest, since most New York octagons date from the 1850s. After years of neglect, the Newstead Historical Society bought and restored it from 1981, and it now operates as a house museum.","period_of_significance":"1849","architect_builder":"Charles B. Rich (builder)","architectural_style":"Mid-19th century; Octagon mode (late Greek Revival with early Italianate elements)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Restored by the Newstead Historical Society after acquisition in 1981 and operated as a house museum open to the public; second-floor interior restoration was still in progress at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.204546-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/95000050.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000050/7d2956db3b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000050/7d2956db3b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Upstate New York","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rich-Twinn_Octagon_House_Oct_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Upstate New York</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rich-Twinn_Octagon_House_Oct_09.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317683","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich-Twinn_Octagon_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7323153"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/rich-twinn-octagon-house-95000050/"}