Chapter Nine: The Case of the Ingenious A
Table of Contents Chapter Nine: The Case of the Ingenious A 116. Law's 1800 house became the fulcrum of the New Varnum Hotel In an 1888 magazine article about the Octagon, restoration architect Glenn Brown accepted the family legend that Thornton was its designer. Brown also proposed the Octagon as the headquarters of the American Institute of Architects, which was then in Manhattan. To build support for his proposal, in 1896, he wrote an article that dispelled doubts cast on the supremacy of Thornton's Capitol design. Brown also credited him for designing and superintending construction of other houses including two houses that the General had built to board congressmen. Work on the Octagon and the General's houses began in 1799. That same year, work began on Thomas Law's five story brick house just south of the Capitol. It had oval rooms like the Octagon and stood for over a century first as a boarding house, then a private residence and finally as a hotel. It ha...