Marshall’s Octagon House: The Story Behind “Ominous Octagon House”

Marshall is full of remarkable houses, but one stands apart, quite literally: an eight-sided home built in 1856. It’s the subject of one of Debra Whelan’s most atmospheric paintings, and it’s a house she knows better than anyone: Debra and her husband, George, own it.

An eight-sided idea

In the mid-1800s, a writer and lecturer named Orson Squire Fowler set off a brief national craze for octagon houses. His 1848 book argued that an eight-sided plan made better use of space, light and air than an ordinary rectangular house.

Fowler lectured in Marshall in 1850. A few years later, a local cabinetmaker named Increase Pendleton built his own octagon house, very likely inspired by Fowler’s ideas. It was completed in 1856.

A house that changed with Marshall

In 1875, lumber dealer Morgan J. Alexander bought the house and made major repairs. Over the years, its walls were stuccoed over the original Marshall sandstone, and Italianate trim was added, the very kind of decoration Fowler’s plain-spoken designs had avoided. A finial once crowned the roof; it has since been removed.

Today the house is known as the Pendleton–Alexander House, and it remains one of the most distinctive homes in a town celebrated for its 19th-century architecture.

Painting the house on a winter night

In Ominous Octagon House, Debra paints the house deep in snow at dusk. Smoke curls from the chimneys, bare trees reach into a violet sky, a full moon rises, and a pack of dark wolves gathers on the lawn. It’s Marshall history with a touch of winter folklore, painted by hand, stroke by stroke.

See it for yourself

Debra and George have opened the house to visitors five times through the Marshall Historical Society’s Historic Home Tour and Candlelight Walk. The Society announces each tour on its social media, and Debra shares the news on her Facebook and Instagram when the house is on the schedule. For tour dates and tickets, visit the Marshall Historical Society.

Outside of tour dates, the Octagon House is a private home, so please enjoy it from the street.

If you love Marshall’s historic homes, both tours are well worth a visit: the Historic Home Tour is held each September, the weekend after Labor Day, and the Candlelight Walk opens decorated homes in early December.

Octagon House questions

Still wondering about something? Ask Debra. She usually replies within 24 hours.