- Collection:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation Presentation Slide Collection, 1968-2000
- Title:
- May's Folly
- Creator:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
- Contributor to Resource:
- Iverson, Alfred, 1798-1873
May, Leander Jackson, 1826-1900 - Date of Original:
- 1971-04
- Subject:
- Architecture
Historic sites--Georgia--Muscogee County
Historic buildings--Georgia--Muscogee County
Architecture, Domestic--Georgia--Muscogee County
Cultural property--Protection
Historic preservation--Georgia
Historic buildings--Conservation and restoration - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Muscogee County, Columbus, 32.46098, -84.98771
- Medium:
- color slides
historic preservation
historic buildings - Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- image/jp2
- Description:
- The Octagon House, also known as "May's Folly," after its second owner Leander May, is a historic octagon house. Based on a single-story wood-frame structure and consisting of a front octagonal section and a rear rectangular one, the building dates to 1831 when Alfred Iverson wed Julia Forsyth, daughter of Georgia Governor John Forsyth. Enlarged in 1863, the building is claimed to be the nation's only known example of a double-octagon house. Elected to Congress in 1846, Iverson served in the Senate until Georgia seceded from the Union. The front section is topped by an octagonal roof with a cupola at the center, and the walls are sheathed in clapboards. The front entrance is sheltered by an elaborate Gothic Revival portico. The interior of this section has the basic form of a Greek cross built around a central chimney, with the angled sections filled with triangular closets and vestibules. The rear of the house, which is its older section, is rectangular, but architectural investigation of the structure has uncovered evidence that it was also at one time octagonal in shape, and was probably made rectangular at the time the front section was built. In 1863, local contractor Leander May, a cabinetmaker who is credited with the construction of the main octagonal structure, bought the home and not only built the front octagonal but also converted the Iverson into a smaller octagonal. He sold the house in 1865, and it passed through a succession of hands before becoming in 1967 the first real estate acquisition of local historic preservation organization Historic Columbus. "The Folly" became a National Historic Landmark of architecture in 1973. Columbus author and preservationist Clason Kyle acquired the home five decades ago; he recently sold "The Folly" to local historical preservationist Jim Crane. Variant names include: May's Folly. See ref # 69000049 (Octagon House) https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/national-register-listed-20240710.xlsx
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_319
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_319#item
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_319/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Please contact holding institution for information regarding use and copyright status.
- Holding Institution:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
- Rights:
-
