LIVING IN ANOTHER DIMENSION

Chuck Long is the proud builder and owner of one of America's architectural icons, the fascinating octagon house. (Photos/TRISH YERGES).

- Trish Yerges

- For The Observer

SUMMERVILLE — Chuck Long of Summerville has dreamed of building his own house since high school. Now, at the age of 50, the former logging mechanic is living his dream — but in a dimension he had never imagined.

"I didn't plan on building an octagon home at first," he said, "but as I was looking for a cover for my round horse pen, I saw a photo of an octagon house in a magazine, and I liked it. They were supposed to be more heat and cooling efficient than houses with corners, and they had the features I wanted in a house."

Just eight years earlier, Long and his wife, Nancy, moved from Chitwood to their 95-acre Misty Mountain ranch on Pumpkin Ridge Road where they raise and sell Kiger mustangs. Since then, the Longs have lived in a small trailer that was on the property. After they built the barns, Long began dreaming about building their home.

In his spare time, when he isn't working at his swing shift job at the Elgin stud mill, he's working on his octagon.

He poured the foundation in the fall of 2005. One year later, the 40-foot-wide octagon towers two stories high. Its eight 45-degree angles perfectly deflect the wind, he said. When it is finished, the octagon will have 22 two windows, four doors, a wrap-around porch and an attached garage.

Karl Juve of Enterprise drew up the plans and Les Tipton of Summerville engineered the project. Long has been meticulous about the building details.

"The eight 16 1/2-foot-wide walls were screwed down and glued, and the joints have been sealed with caulking to reduce heat loss," Long said.

While some homeowners are retrofitting their homes for their golden years, Long has already incorporated handicap-friendly features into his octagon design, including wider doors and a ramp to the outside porch.

When he's done, the assessed tax value of his octagon will be $182,000, Long said.

Even in its early stages of construction, the 2,134-square-foot octagon with its blue metal roof has a majestic presence that has caught the attention of many.

"Quite a few people on Sunday drives come up and want to talk about the house," Long said.

Not surprising, the octagon is a fascinating structure, and the Longs' is one of three in Union county.

Rob and Wendy Simer own an octagon near Hunter and End roads. Their one-story octagon was built in 1972 by its first owner, Sam Price. When the Simers were house shopping, they were looking for something different, they said.

"Octagons catch your eye. They are odd, and I like that," said Wendy Simer.

Rob adds, "We didn't intend on buying an octagon at first, but when I saw the huge living room and the fireplace, I really liked it. It's like living in a giant wooden tent."

In an octagon, one room blends into the next with only furniture, floor coverings and wall colors to define its spatial purpose. Still, it's the openness that the Simers find appealing.

"I really like the Feng Shui energy flow in this house," Wendy said.

Mike and Earlene Lamb own an octagon home on Allium Street in La Grande. It was built in 1975 by EOU art professor Ian Gatley and sold to the Kromwalls before the Lambs bought it in 1999. It is unique in that it is built with close conformity to the classic 1850 octagon design that had a cupola and spiral stair case.

The two-story, four-bedroom, three-bath home has 1,608 square feet of living space on each floor.

"We like the spaciousness and quiet acoustics," said Mike.

The Lambs were also drawn to its passive lighting and ventilation from the cupola.

They could think of few drawbacks to the octagon. Earlene pointed out that no room is square and that her kitchen cupboards have

V-shaped corners that are sometimes hard to reach.

Mike added, "If anyone is considering an octagon, you must be concerned about the space and heating."

Aside from that they really love their octagon, the Lambs said.