Rich--Twinn Octagon House - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Rich-Twinn Octagon House, built in 1849, is architecturally significant as a rare and extremely early surviving example of the octagon mode in Western New York. It is the only example of its type in Erie County. The style is more commonly found in the Hudson Valley, Mohawk Valley, and Central New York. Recently restored by the Newstead Historical Society and operated as a house museum, the house is one of the most distinguished examples of 19th century residential architectural in Akron. The house was built by Charles B. Rich, one of Akron's foremost 19th century citizens.

Rich was a New York Indian agent and grain merchant. He married for the fourth time in the late 1840s, and he and his wife took a boat ride on the Erie Canal. The Rich's saw an octagon house while on the trip and were inspired to build there own back home. Characteristic of many houses built during the late 1840s, the Rich house displays a variety of features associated with the Greek Revival style, popular in the mid-century in Western New York. The house is also noteworthy for its extremely early employment of a variety of Italiante style elements. The Italiante style did not become widespread in Western New York until the 1860s making the Rich house a remarkably early example of the type and period.

The Rich's owned the house until 1870. Between then and 1938, several people owned the house. In 1938 Clark J. Twinn purchased the house. Twinn served at one time as assistant US Attorney for the territory of Alaska. Twinn's widow occupied the house until 1981 when it was acquired by the Newstead Historical Society. Since then, the house has been restored to its original condition and is open as a museum. Tours are available on the first and third Sunday of every month (except January & February), 1:00-3:00 p.m. Admission is $3.00 per person.

Street address: 145 Main St Akron, NY United States 14001 County / Borough / Parish: Erie Year listed: 1995 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1825-1849 Historic function: Domestic: Single Dwelling Current function: Museum Privately owned?: yes Season start / Season finish: From: 03/01/2007 To: 12/31/2007 Hours of operation: From: 1:00 PM To: 3:00 PM Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   11/08/2009 sevenil7il visited it