The Octagon House

Located in Hyde Co., NC, this 19th century eight-sided house was built about 1857 by Dr. William T. Sparrow, a medical doctor born in Craven County (1825), who married Elizabeth Jennette. Elizabeth had inherited the land where the Octagon House is from her father, Robert Jennette. The Sparrows lived there for several years with their three children. Elizabeth died in 1860. Dr. Sparrow, who served in the Confederate Army and was discharged due to poor health, returned to the Octagon House and died in 1862.

By 1879, the three Sparrow children had sold their interest in the house to John A. Northan, who lived there until his death in 1904. Following, it was inherited by Ola Gibbs, who later married Charles Payne. The house was lived in until the late 1950s.

During the 1970s and 80s, interested community leaders spearheaded a restoration of the Octagon House. In 1976, the nonprofit "The Octagon House Restoration, Inc." was formed and the house and lot were purchased. Since that time, the restoration and preservation of this historic home in the Lake Landing Historic District has continued.

Dr. Sparrow built the eight-sided house since he was enthralled with Orson Fowler, a phrenologist, and his popular 1848 book, The Octagon House: A Home for All, or A New, Cheap, Convenient and Superior Mode of Building. The house has a central chimney and four fireplaces and no posts, except for windows and doors. There are six rooms with a hallway upstairs and downstairs.