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