I cannot deny it, I love buildings that look weird.
Sure, a historic home that serves as an example of what and how contemporary people were building is great if you want to learn about that sort of thing. However, sometimes it is fun to see how people were pushing the boundaries of residential architectural style.
That is why I was so pleased and, dare I say, elated when I stumbled upon 6 Mount Vernon St.
I’ll admit that when I saw this photo pop up in the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, I laughed a kind of incredulous laugh.
The house is nicknamed the Thomas J. & Emeline K. Bowden Octagon House, and it is nicknamed aptly. Floor plans included in the MACRIS document show that there are, in fact, eight sides.
The first part of the nickname refers to the house’s first owners, husband and wife Thomas Jefferson and Emily K. Bowden.
Thomas was, like his father and uncle, a carpenter and woodworker. The MACRIS document suggests that all three men likely had a role in the design and construction of this house, as it “would serve as a highly-visible calling card of their business and a landmark for the neighborhood they were developing on Reed’s Hill,” as well as a place for the Bowdens to live.
The house was not the only odd thing related to the Bowdens. Thomas himself was an odd fellow.
No, I’m not making a judgment about him. The Odd Fellowship, now the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), is a fraternal organization.
According to the 1888 book “Odd Fellowship: its History and Manual” written by Theo A. Ross, the IOOF aims to “protect the widows and orphans; to bury the dead; to help each other in want; to counsel each other in difficulty; to improve and elevate the character of man; to enlighten his mind; to enlarge the sphere of his affections.”
Additionally, Thomas was a musician and a “a long-time member of the Salem Brass Band,” according to the MACRIS document.
Though the house has since been converted into condominiums, it nonetheless remains octagonal.