George Stoudt House, Eight Cornered House Road (Penn Township), Mount Pleasant, Berks County, PA

Significance: This structure is an excellent example of the octagon craze which swept American building in the middle of the nineteenth century. It is particularly notable for being the midst of a Pennsylvania German community, a group noted for its conservative attitudes. Despite its innovative design, this structure conformed to other Pennsylvania German building traditions; the structural system was traditional half-timber framing with wattle and daub nogging, while the original first floor plan retained the conventional layout (i.e. kitchen, double parlor, and bedroom), including a winding, Schnecke stairway connecting the first and second floors.

Survey number: HABS PA-267

Building/structure dates: 1865- 1870 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1880 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1971 Demolished

octagonal buildings houses wooden buildings domestic life agriculture mount pleasant berks county pa stoudt house george stoudt house house road penn penn township mount pleasant mount pleasant berks berks county pennsylvania lydia dundor historic american buildings survey thomas kheel us army corps of engineers philadelphia office adam stoudt photo ultra high resolution high resolution united states history library of congress

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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