Hexagon House

Hexagon House is a two-story residence in Winchester featuring a hexagonal floor plan with semi-hexagonal projections at ground level. The home includes a three-bay veranda-style porch on its main facade and ventilation features built into its principal rooms.

The house was built between 1871 and 1873 by builder B. Leathers for owner James W. Burgess on land that once belonged to James Wood, a founder of Winchester. The hexagonal design reflected 19th-century ideas about polygonal homes as practical and health-conscious living spaces.

The design follows principles from Orson S. Fowler's 1853 book 'A Home for All', which promoted polygonal houses as practical and healthy living spaces.

The home sits on Amherst Street in Winchester's downtown area and is visible from the street, where its six-sided shape becomes clear. The front yard and street-side approach provide the best view to appreciate the unusual floor plan and architectural design in full.

This residence is one of only two hexagonal structures listed in the National Register of Historic Places, making it an exceptionally rare architectural form in America. This rarity showcases an experimental housing concept from the 1870s that nearly disappeared from American architecture.