AFA Winter 2017

Antiques & Fine Art 119 2017 “Some people collect salt and pepper shakers. Joseph Pell Lombardi collects houses.” — The New York Times, July 5, 1990 The Armour-Stiner (Octagon) House, Irvington-on-Hudson, NY “Owner Finds Many Sides to Restoring Victorian Jewel” — Preservation News, June 1990 The only known residence constructed in the eight-sided, domed colonnaded shape of a classical Roman Temple, the Armour-Stiner (Octagon) House is one of the most visually unique homes in the world. Built as a lyrical summer retreat in 1872 by Hungarian- born Joseph Stiner, a prominent New York City tea merchant, and his West Indian wife Hannah, the design was inspired by The Octagon House, a Home for All (1853), whose author advocated that eight-sided houses receive twice as much sunlight as four-sided homes, have views into the grounds from eight directions, and contain rooms with greater accessibility to each other. The National Trust for Historic Preservation acquired the Octagon House in 1978 but, preferring to have an experienced professional owner tackle a serious structural issue, they sold it to Lombardi; it was the first Trust house resold to a private individual. Lombardi focused on the extensive structural problems associated with the dome, conserved the house, the grounds, and the outbuildings, and furnished it with original and contemporaneous furnishings. Fig. 2: The 1872 Octagon House exterior, interiors and furnishings are among the best displays of the neo-Roman style, popular for a brief period in the third quarter of nineteenth-century America, and include the only surviving Egyptian Revival domestic room. Throughout the house are fine examples of American Renaissance Revival and Egyptian Revival style furnishings including Pottier & Stymus, George Hunzinger and John Jelliff. The Octagon House is available for rent, location shoots, and can be toured by groups by appointment.