Based on Orson Fowler's A Home for All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagonal Mode of Building (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 69).

Feusier Octagon House (15) (1859) at 1067 Green was designed by an unknown follower of nineteenth-century New York phrenologist Orson Fowler, who wrote in A Home for All that octagon houses provided a salubrious residential environment and a cheap domicile for the "new age." Perfect for California! A second story, the mansard roof, and a cupola were added sometime after the house was built (Wiley 2000: 259).

At 1067 Green, a pioneer named Kenny built a second octagon in 1858. He sold it in 1870 to a French family, the Feusiers, who occupied the house for so many generations that it came to be known as the Feusier Octagon. Mme. Feusier enjoyed recounting to later generations the story of her trip from France, when her young husband, who had already settled in San Francisco, asked her how she would like to live in an eight-sided house. She was understandably astonished when she actually saw it. In later years, while she was paying a visit to France, her husband, as a surprise, added the octagonal mansard roof to give the family more room, making the house quite a departure from the usual octagon style.

Mme. Feusier also recalled the disheartening view from the rear windows in 1906, the barren landscape of a fire-blackened city, but noted that the city had looked just as barren when she had come to it as a bride. The Feusier Octagon was one of a group of houses at the top of Russian Hill which survived the 1906 disaster, but it was threatened in the 1970s, when the owner wanted to replace it with a high-rise apartment tower. It is now a city landmark (Alexander and Heig 2002: 106).

The ten hundred block of Green Street, on one of the three crests of Russian Hill, is one of the most remarkable blocks in the city. The outstanding building on the block is the octagon house at 1067 Green Street. One of the two remaining octagon houses in the city (once there were five), the "Feusier House" was built in 1857-58 by George Kenny and sold in 1870 to Louis Feusier, a companion of such San Francisco celebrities as Leland Stanford and Mark Twain. The plan was developed from the general scheme of Orson S. Fowler, a phrenologist who had succeeded in identifying well-being with the shape and construction of one's domicile. The addition of a Mansard roof, providing a third story, and a small, octagonal cupola during the 1880's does not seem to have affected the original style of the house (Olmsted and Watkins 1969: 47). 

 

Restoration by Magic Brush, Inc. (Robert Dufort) and San Francisco Restorations (Jim Mannix).

Preservation architect was Arnie Lerner of Lerner Associates.

This is one of two surviving Octagon homes in San Francisco. It is the larger of the two, was built first, and still functions as a private residence. The second Octagon home is the "McElroy House", built 1861, located on Gough Street (at Union St.) and operated as a museum.

As one can see from the photos, in 1987 the Feusier House exterior was in poor condition. It required extensive paint stripping, restoration with epoxy consolidants and fillers, as well as miscellaneous carpentry repairs to the trim. The mansard roof cedar shingles were replaced. Some foundation and drainage work was also performed.

The use of epoxy consolidants and fillers was quite uncommon in 1987. In fact, Magic Brush and SF Restorations were at the forefront of using these types of products to restore wood facades. "Bondo" was then considered "state of the art" by most....(still is by some....).