1868 Octagon – Copake, NY
Details below are from July 2019, sold status has not been verified.
To verify, check the listing links below.
Added to OHD on 7/19/19 - Last OHD Update: 8/28/20 -
To verify, check the listing links below.
Added to OHD on 7/19/19 - Last OHD Update: 8/28/20 -
Off Market / Archived
193 County Route 7A, Copake, NY 12516
Map: Street
$49,900- 3 Bed
- 1.5 Bath
- 1400 Sq Ft
- 0.55 Ac.
Wonderful home, potential galore, walk to stores, services, nice town.
Contact Information
Arnold Greenberg, Starr Real Estate(518) 229-8784
Links, Photos & Additional Info
State: New York | Region: Northeast (Middle Atlantic) | Associated Styles or Type: Octagon
Period & Associated Styles: Octagon (1850-1870), Romantic Era
Features: Neighborhood, Painted Wood | Misc: Extreme Fixer, Fixer-Uppers
Period & Associated Styles: Octagon (1850-1870), Romantic Era
Features: Neighborhood, Painted Wood | Misc: Extreme Fixer, Fixer-Uppers
28 Comments on 1868 Octagon – Copake, NY
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OHD does not represent this home. Price, status and other details must be independently verified. Do not contact the agent unless you are interested in the property.
Commenting means you've read and will abide by the comment rules.
Click here to read the comment rules, updated 1/12/20.
OHD does not represent this home. Price, status and other details must be independently verified. Do not contact the agent unless you are interested in the property.
Emporia, KS
I have to laugh.
The house is in terrible condition. It needs a ton of work.
But…it’s way cool.
I WANT IT!
New Rochelle, NY
I thought of you immediately when I saw this one Ross. I would love to work on this one too! This faded lady (or gent) needs needs saving.
Definitely an OMG house! Lots of work but my goodness what a dollhouse you’d have when done. I’d love to see how that porch looked originally.
The house was built for Dr. John D. Reynolds, a Union College graduate and a volunteer surgeon in the Civil War. Dr. Reynolds expanded the basic Fowler octagon plan for his office. He and wife Anna had 3 children here, and when she died in the 1870’s, the doctor left his children with family, remarried and moved to Seattle. After that, the family of farmer Herbert Wilsey owned the house for about a century.
It’s interesting to see Greek Revival style trim in an 1868 house. Copake is a small hamlet near the Massachusetts line that was part of the Manor of Livingston until the mid-1800’s.
I honed in on that Greek Revival trim work, too. And those huge windows that go all the way to the floor. I wish there were more pictures. I want it.
Delightfully quirky and character-filled! The numerous original windows (virtually floor-to-ceiling in height) are a huge asset… as are the original Greek Revival door and window casings (and mantel). I want this house so much that it hurts. According to Zillow, this house sold for 40K as recently as January. Hmmmm…
Escondido, CA
A feeling I have every now and then as well when perusing OHD . . . “I want this house so much that it hurts.” It’s an impossible feeling to describe but this comes close.
Peoria, IL
Prepare for the “oh, I wish they hadn’t painted the woodwork” comments.
I do like unpainted woodwork in most cases, but for some reason Greek Revival woodwork only looks right with white paint or faux bois to me. Probably all those plantation tours I went on as a kid.
CAMDEN, SC
H FUn! An octagon house! These can be soo beautiful when done up!
Here’s one that is for sale and from the same time period. It’s a spectacular example to give y’all an idea how they can transform!
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/111-W-Whiteman-St-Yellow-Springs-OH-45387/34182852_zpid/
OMG, stunning!!!!!
What a wonderful house. I have always thought octagons were really interesting, and certainly this could be very nice with extensive work. Many octagons have added wings for additional living space without angles. Certainly this house could use one, if for no other reason than to create a rational kitchen.
It is my belief that the turned columns buried in the structure of the enclosed porch are the remnants of a Queen Anne era porch addition.
It is difficult to estimate the sizes of the rooms from the photographs, and whether they can accommodate modern beds and dressers. I noticed the edge of a ‘break-your-neck’ staircase in one of the photographs, so this house does not have an interesting open staircase in its center as so many octagons do. This would also make moving furniture to the second floor and back down again a challenging project. I have moved furniture out of a house this size, and it made for a very long day.
Its tiny size, in light of how much will need to be invested to make it a nice home, will be a challenge to any prospective buyer. I could easily handle living there once some basic work had been completed, and I would consider the effort and money well spent. However, I once moved into an 1874 Italianate, derelict for ten years, in the center of a rough Denver neighborhood. It had no glass in the windows, no electricity, heat or plumbing, but this octagon makes that house look palatial by comparison.
This would make a fine historic preservation revolving fund project, to renovate the house to a point where a private buyer could handle it.
One additional note:
This house could really be very nice. I forgot to add that the interior has some good details – the original sash and doors remain. In addition. there appears to be a double parlor, or perhaps a parlor-dining room combination, separated by a pair of sliding pocket doors.
This could be really charming. Again, with some initial work before any thought of moving in.
Bethlehem, CT
I’ve been following this house for months and was so excited to see it relisted with more than one picture. It’s an excellent location for a weekend house for a New Yorker. Great Barrington Ma is about 15 minutes and lots of excellent shops and restaurants are there. If this were commutable for my purposes, I would absolutely consider making an offer.
CAMDEN, SC
Aw, go ahead and make an offer anyway! Think of the fun your have on weekends with this project! Just do it!
Emporia, KS
I did a blog post about THE most amazing ever octagon house:
https://restoringross.com/the-astounding-restoration-of-an-astounding-house/
Love! Amazing. I have been curious about this style. Think about coming from earlier houses with two rooms and a center fireplace, add a few hundred years and houses are still boxes and now we have the octagon! And another hundred years and we are deconstructing architecture. I am sure there are at least few here with a greater depth of historical knowledge could expand on this.
Rural, IL
Thank Heavens for quirky houses, designed and built by someone who loved something different and for all those people who haven’t tried to “straighten out” the quirky. Some octagon homes have rooms that are made mostly square – this house didn’t even pretend to want square. This house weeds out the “talkers” and the “OMG I would buy this in a minute” OHDers. Love it.
I love octagons that are actually octagonal. Too often the interiors are plain four-walled rooms. This could be divine, especially with those huge windows.
I don’t remember seeing an Octagon plan as late as 1868, certainly not with the Greek Revival elements found here. Some Octagon floor plans sought to square off the main rooms and left the quirky angles to the closets and other less important spaces. Others took advantage of the angles to create more interesting formal rooms.
For those who are interested, Fowler’s 1848 book that built the case for the Octagon and started the 1850’s trend was called The Octagon House: A Home For All, or A New, Cheap, Convenient, and Superior Mode of Building and is linked here:
https://ia802700.us.archive.org/0/items/ahomeforalloran00fowlgoog/ahomeforalloran00fowlgoog.pdf
Bethlehem, CT
Delving deeper into Fowler, he’s certainly a mass of contradictions. A racist phrenologist who was also an abolitionist. Hard to judge from a modern perspective. I wonder if he was thought of as a bit of a quack in his time?
A few sources say Reynolds built the house after the Civil War, and the deeds check out, but there may be a missing part of the story. Reynolds bought other property around that time, and it’s possible the house was built earlier and he moved it to this location (next to his in-laws).
I thought that the woodwork seemed a bit old-fashioned for a house built in 1868. My gut tells me the house was built in the 1850’s, so the possibility of the house having been moved would explain a lot.
Despite the fact that it is filthy and in desperate need of repair I’m quite drawn to it. I like the odd little details. Call me weird but the metal utility sink in the bathroom would have to stay. I also like the odd little pantry(?) door in the kitchen and the built in drawers/cabinet at the top of the stairs. The only change I would make is what looks like an added closet space that blocks the flower window. I would take that wall down and make that room a library and sit under that beautiful window to read.
AUSTELL, GA
@Wishing, I’m curious about the sink you mentioned. The only utility sink I see is a plastic one in the picture before the kitchen.
That is the one I’m talking about. I think it is actually white metal. A friend in Ohio had one like it in her basement next to the washer.
That sink is definitely plastic. Utility sinks like this can be real back-breakers if you use them regularly for more than a minute at a time. I once temporarily installed one of these in a house I was working on in order to both serve as a place in which to wash out paint brushes and in which to do dishes. Big mistake… I now pamper my back with more ergonomically considerate sink options.
Lockport, NY
Sale Pending 1/1/2020 (Movoto)