Washington Octagon House

Loren Andrus, son of Michigan pioneers, became a prominent member of the community in Macomb County at the relatively early age of twenty-one, when he was taken on as assistant engineer for the survey of the Clinton-Kalamazoo Canal. Whatever may have been the source of his prominence while he lived, however, Andrus is now remembered almost solely for the queer but charming house he built in Washington, Michigan, an octagonal mansion with Italianate roof and a cupola high enough to provide glimpses of Lake St. Clair on a clear day. In 1849, when he was thirty-three years old, Andrus set up a farm on a large grant of land in Macomb County. He was by then already a prosperous man, capable of expanding his farm and indulging in some conspicuous consumption for the benefit of his prosperous counterparts in the community. Late in the 1850s, Andrus' friends in Macomb County initiated a local building boom, each striving to put up a more impressive residence than the last. Not to be outdone, Andrus offered his brother-in-law, local architect and carpenter David Stewart, a handsome price to build a handsome house, and built it fast. Stewart was responsible for several of the churches and private residences which were beginning to spring up around Macomb County, symbols of new permanence and middle-class luxury which were possible there for the first time since settlement. Octagon houses enjoyed a brief popularity after 1854 when Orson Squire Fowler of Fishkill, New York published his book, A Home For All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building, New Cheap, Convenient, Superior and Adapted to Rich and Poor. According to Fowler, an eight-sided house contained more floor space than a rectangular house with the same wall area; central heating was more feasible in an octagon; and rooms were more accessible to each other. Fowler is better known for another of his enterprises, the science of phrenology, a discipline which was promoted and established in the United States largely through Fowler's efforts. Needless to say, neither idea has achieved immortality. Andrus took a boundless pride in his completed house, pointing visitors especially toward the soaring spiral staircase which climbed from ground level to the windowed cupola perched on the pinnacle of the roof. The house was a social and religious centerpiece in the community throughout the time it was occupied by the Andrus family. Andrus was active in organizations which promoted agricultural advancement and was well known for his own experiments with the breeding and improving of sheep. Andrus also helped organize insurance groups to protect farm property, played an active role in local church work, and shared the staunch Republicanism of his neighbors. The house changed hands several times after Andrus' death and was used as a restaurant in the late 30s. In 1945, the house and surrounding farmland were taken over by the Detroit Board of Education and were used as a center for training high school and college students in agricultural techniques. The house served as a dormitory on what was called the Albert H. Schmidt Foundation Farm, operated by Wayne State University as an extension of the agricultural college. The building and surrounding property have since been sold by the university, and the octagon house is now once again a private residence, owned by Stanley Kaczmarek.

The Andrus house, or house of eights, is an eight-sided single structure with eight rooms, four on each of the two levels, and windows eight feet high. Exterior sheathing on the main octagonal section is common bond brickwork: bricks used in construction of the house were made from local clay and were fired by Andrus himself. The roof is supported by extravagant Italianate brackets. An octagonal cupola with weatherboard sheathing and a pyramidal roof is mounted on the center of the roof. An open porch supported by Neo-Corinthian wood columns surrounds seven of the eight sides on the first level of the house. A single-story brick kitchen wing with low gable roof extends from the eighth rear side. The octagonal main building has two-sash double-hung windows with shaped wood lintels, moulded side surrounds, and lugsills. The four rooms on each level are positioned around a dramatic spiral staircase which winds up the entire height of the house and ends in the cupola. Each room is adjoined by a large triangular alcove almost large enough to constitute another room. All of the woodwork in the Andrus House is of the best quality the period had to offer. Even the ceilings in some rooms are embellished with carved detail. Ceilings throughout are twelve feet high, adding to the soaring emphasis on height and upward direction which the interior of the Andrus house evokes in almost every detail of its design.