Feusier Octagon House

The Feusier Octagon House, located at 1067 Green Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood, is one of San Francisco's few iconic octagonal houses. It was built by 1858 by George L. Kenny, who sold it to Louis Feusier in 1870. Although the exact year of construction is uncertain, the Feusier Octagon House is undoubtedly one of the oldest houses on Russian Hill. One source even alleges construction beginning as early as 1852, however the hard photographic evidence of the neighborhood appears to show that the house was standing in 1858. The house remained the Feusier family home for eighty years. On March 24, 1974, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance. The private residence, a California Historic Landmark, is not open to the public.

George L. Kenny and J. D. Alexander were partners in the San Francisco firm Kenny & Alexander by 1861; the company was an importer and jobber of books and stationery. By 1869, Kenny still lived on the south side of Green St. (the Octagon House) but worked for H. H. Bancroft & Company. The eight-sided house was built of a mixture of cement or burnt lime, clay, and gravel. A front porch projects out from the octagon on the left of the Green St. (north) side.

The next owner of the house, Louis Feusier, was born in France in December 1827 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1833. Feusier arrived in California in 1852, and, after a ten-year stint in Nevada, returned to San Francisco and married Louise Guerne. Louise was the daughter of Swiss-born businessman George Guerne and his German-born wife; the town of Guerneville was named for this pioneer settler. Louis got married in 1870, the same year he purchased the octagon home. Louis' Green St. house was the site of the funeral for his 65-year-old brother, Henry, who passed away in San Francisco in May 1875.

In 1900, Louis (age 72) was a grocery merchant; the firm was named Martin, Feusier & Co. and was located at 309 Clay St. His wife, Louise (53) did not work. All four of the Feusier children still lived at home with their parents: son Clarence (28, born in California in 1871), and daughters Josephine (26), Mable (25), and Eittel (22, born in 1877). Josephine worked as a secretary for a mining company; her siblings did not have jobs. By 1899, the house was modified and the third story with Mansard roof and dormers was added by Louis Feusier; the octagonal cupola was concrete, and the new roof below was covered in fish-scale shingles. Like other buildings in the surrounding areas, the house was able to avoid the devastation of the 1906 Earthquake and fire, but the outbuildings were intentionally destroyed by dynamite to avoid fueling the fire. Fortunately, the house itself was saved. A newspaper article mentioned that all the house's residents were safe: "Louis Feusier, Clarence Feusier, Mr. and Mrs. Pling, the Misses Josephine and Maybelle." Louis Feusier's family lived in the Octagon House for the next eighty years, until it was sold in 1954. The family also owned a gold mine - the Sheep Ranch Mine in Calaveras County - until Clarence sold it in 1936.

Though a rare and unique sight today, octagon houses were quite the fad in the mid 19th century. This was down to a New York phrenologist named Orson Squire Fowler who wrote a book entitled, "A Home for All; or, Gravel Hall and the Octagon Mode of Building". Fowler believed that the shape of one's house was directly related to one's well-being, with the octagon being the best shape to achieve this goal as it allows every room in the house to receive sunlight during at least one part of the day. 

Today there are over a hundred surviving octagon houses across the US. San Francisco was once home to at least five documented octagon houses although only two remain to this day (Feusier and the Colonial Dames Octagon on Gough St.). Four of the five octagon houses were in the Russian Hill area with the exception being Cyrus Palmer's home on Rincon Hill; another octagonal house was on the same block of Green St. as the Feusier home (see the 1899 Sanborn map image of the block). It is thought that all of the buildings were constructed by the same person. 

Anonymous. "Died." Daily Alta (San Francisco) May 19th, 1875. 4-4.

Anonymous. "Mysterious Suicide of Henry Feusier." The San Francisco Call (San Francisco) August 24th, 1900. 3-3.

Anonymous. "Clergymen to Address the People." The San Francisco Call (San Francisco) April 22nd, 1906. 4-4.

Anonymous. "Sheep Ranch Mine." Press-Tribune (Roseville) November 25th, 1936. 3-3.

Bragman, Bob. San Francisco Octagon houses - home to 3 spinsters and a ghostly past. SF Gate. Accessed May 07, 2017. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-Octagon-houses-3-spinsters-and-a-10866476.php.

Erwert, Anna Marie. Rent the famed Octagon House in Russian Hill for $10,500 a month, SFGate. September 13th, 2018. Accessed November 30th, 2024. https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/San-Francisco-rental-Octagon-House-Russia-Hill-13218220.php.

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Mead, Ralph A. NRHP nomination, Feusier Octagon House, San Francisco, CA. National Register of Historic Places. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1971.

One of only Two Octagonal Houses in San Francisco. Art and Architecture. November 22, 2013. Accessed May 07, 2017. http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/one-of-only-two-octagonal-houses-in-san-francisco.html.

San Francisco Landmark #36 Feusier Octagon House. Noe Hill. Accessed May 07, 2017. http://noehill.com/sf/landmarks/sf036.asp.

U.S. Census Bureau. Household of Louis Feusier, 1027 Green St. San Francisco, California, dwelling 47 (58), family 60 (61). Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1900.