This spring, AAF continued its stewardship of The Octagon, the National Historic Landmark in which houses its offices, through a 2005 Save America’s Treasures grant.
Scaffolding surrounded the federal style house for months as Tidewater Preservation installed 10,000 hand hewn red cedar shingles. The restoration contractors carefully hand planed and hand fitted each of the shingles during installation. The anticipated life span of this roof is approximately 30 years.
Designed in 1799 by Dr. William Thornton, first architect of the U.S. Capitol, for Colonel John Tayloe III and his wife Ann Ogle Tayloe, The Octagon represents the epitome of late eighteenth century architectural, engineering and design excellence, and when completed in 1802, it was the most elegant and prestigious private residence in the new nation’s capital city.
The angles of the building have made roof construction a challenge for two centuries. The original roof was nearly flat. After the War of 1812, the flat roof leaked and needed to be replaced. To alleviate the problem, Tayloe built the hipped roof of today, and added a decorative balustrade around the roof to hide it from view to passers-by at street level. The new hipped roof was covered with hand hewn cyprus shingles.
While the roof shingles have been replaced several times over the years, the current scarcity of cyprus lead the restoration team to opt for red cedar. Also in high demand, locating the quantity of shingles needed for the projects presented a challenge.
The work was completed in September and Tidewater Preservation has proceeded to The Octagon’s next restoration project—stone and masonry repair.
1799 New York Avenue NW • Washington DC 20006 • 202.626.7318 • Fax 202.626.7420 • info@archfoundation.org