Join us for October chills on this tour, which combines history with a touch of the unknown. You are invited to step into the past and join the enigmatic Jessie Clarke as she hosts her annual literary salon. Jessie Clarke lived at the Octagon House over a century ago, until her death in 1933 — one of the house's most curious figures, and much of her life remains shrouded in mystery. Set aside for her by wealthy relatives, the house was her home for 25 years, where legend holds she lived largely alone. Her story carries added layers of intrigue: the nature of her health in those years remains undocumented and much debated. At the conclusion of the tour, visitors are invited to experience Remember You Must Die, a curated exhibition from the Memento Mori collection of Ryan Matthew Cohn featuring objects ranging from ancient artifacts to contemporary works and examining the ways past generations confronted mortality through art, ritual, memory, and spirituality.
Audience Role
Observer.
Ages: 13 +
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Years on EI
About The Armour-Stiner House
The Armour-Stiner Octagon House as we see it today is beautifully restored to its 1870s appearance inside and out, but it wasn’t always this way. After the Armour and Stiner families built and decorated this whimsical structure in the third quarter of the 19th century, the house began to suffer structural degradation that brought it to the edge of collapse. Learn about the rise, fall, and rebirth of this extraordinary house, the people who shaped it, and the intrepid restoration architect who saved it from near ruin.