Henry H. Smith/J.H. Murphy House

The Henry H. Smith/J.H. Murphy House is located east of downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 1997.

History

Henry H. “Variety” Smith was a successful Davenport merchant and a member of the city council. His downtown store was known for its “splendid stock of fancy goods from numerous buying trips to the East.” ^[3] It is believed he hired one of Davenport’s first professional architects, Willett L. Carroll, to design his house in the 1850s.^[4] The house was designed based on the philosophy of Orson Fowler, a leading phrenologist, who held that the octagon was the closest thing to a circle and it was conducive to good health.^[3] While it is one of several octagon houses in the state of Iowa, it is the only one left in Davenport.^[4]

Architecture

The house exhibits features found in the Italianate style: hipped roof, bracketed eaves, and a small belvedere on top. The entrances into the house are on the main floor, which sits atop a raised basement level. They are all covered by columned porches and are located on the four cardinal points of the compass.^[3] The grounds of the estate also featured a carriage house, stable, grape vines and a picket fence, all of which are now gone.^[4]

References

External links

• Archiplanet Listing