Although octagonal buildings had been made for many thousands of years, mainly for churches or temples, the eight sided building for a home really did not become popular until about 1850 with the publication of a book touting them, by Orson Fowler. Because of their odd floor plans, they were both difficult to furnish, as well as difficult to open doors, without opening them onto other doors. This now abandoned octagonal house was originally used as a lookout station house in the Point Lobos neighborhood of San Francisco, built in 1927. There had been some kind of lookout station in the area going back to 1852, to let merchants and residents of the city know of the different ships coming into port. Those old stations relied on a system of semaphore, where one station relayed the information to another station, but it had to be in an unobstructed line of sight. With improvements in radio and telephone communications, fewer and further homes were all that was needed, that was when this home came into use. Built initially for Julius Larsen, it was taken over by his Son in Law, William Morrissey. It remained active until 1968, when more advanced technology came along. Annie, the daughter of Julius and wife of William, lived here her whole life, the only person who got to. Long abandoned, the maintenance of it has not be a Park Service priority.
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