Henry L. Russell House, Route 6, West Grove Township, Bloomfield, Davis County, IA

Significance: The Henry L. Russell House is one of a handful of octagon houses remaining in Iowa. Built in 1859 of brick manufactured at the site, the house was Russell's adaptation of octagon forms promoted during the 1840's and 1850's by Orson Squire Fowler. The house incorporates details from the Greek Revival, and a plan nearly identical to one published by Fowler in 1854. Henry Russell came to Davis County from Ohio in 1854, and purchased this property two years later. A farmer and stockraiser, Russell specialized in breeding Spanish Merino sheep, a business that was continued, for several decades after his death in 1894, by a daughter and son-in-law.
Survey number: HABS IA-137
Building/structure dates: 1859 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: ca. 1910 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1959 Subsequent Work