Armour-Stiner Octagon House

One of the most celebrated occupants of this house was Carl Carmer, the author, poet and historian. Carmer resided in the house from 1946 to the time of his death in 1976. His legacy includes tales of two resident ghosts.

The Armour-Stiner Octagon House is one of the most visually singular homes in the world — the only known fully domed octagonal residence, crowned like an ancient classical temple and painted in rich Victorian color. It sits above the Hudson in Irvington, a short distance south of Sleepy Hollow, and is a National Historic Landmark.

The house began in the 1860s as an eight-sided villa built by Paul J. Armour, a New York City financier. Octagonal houses were briefly in vogue in this era, following the 1848 book The Octagon House: A Home for All by Orson Squire Fowler — a phrenologist and amateur architect who argued that eight-sided homes enclosed more space, let in more light, and were healthier and more efficient than conventional designs. In 1872 the house was bought by Joseph Stiner, a prominent New York City tea merchant, who transformed it into the structure we see today: he added the great dome and the wrap-around veranda to fashion an elaborately detailed, temple-like summer retreat.

After a succession of colorful owners, the house passed in 1946 to author, folklorist, and historian Carl Carmer, one of the most popular American writers of the 1940s and ’50s, who lived here until his death in 1976. It later changed hands and underwent a decades-long, meticulous restoration that returned it to its full Victorian splendor.

The Armour-Stiner Octagon House is a private residence, open to the public only through scheduled, ticketed tours. Please respect the owners’ privacy and visit only on a booked tour.

The Ghosts of the Octagon House

The house’s reputation for resident spirits traces chiefly to Carl Carmer and his wife, the artist and photographer Elizabeth “Betty” Black. The Carmers spoke often of a “fragrant” ghost — a floral presence, like the old-fashioned garden flower heliotrope, that they said had followed them from their previous home in Manhattan. Betty once quipped that the spirit might turn up anywhere among the house’s rooms. Remarkably, the fragrant ghost is said to linger still: during the modern restoration, those close to the project reported the same mischievous, sweet-scented presence, most often described as lilac.

Carmer also spun the house’s other legend into fiction — the tragic “Lady in White,” a young woman lost in a Hudson steamboat disaster who returns to the octagon in search of her lost love. For the full history of the house’s hauntings, see Ghosts of the Octagon House at Sleepy Hollow Country.

How to Visit the Octagon House

Location: 45 West Clinton Avenue, Irvington, NY 10533. armourstiner.com · 914-817-5763 · [email protected]

Tours: All visits are by guided or immersive tour, booked in advance online through the house’s website. Tours run seasonally throughout much of the year; check availability and reserve at armourstiner.com, since popular dates — especially in October and December — sell out.

Getting There Without a Car: Irvington has its own Metro-North Hudson Line station, about a mile from the house (a short taxi or rideshare, or an uphill walk). See Sleepy Hollow Without a Car: Visiting by Train for more.

Tours and Seasonal Experiences

The house offers a rotating slate of tours across the year. Exact titles and dates change seasonally, so confirm the current lineup before booking, but the offerings generally follow this rhythm:

Year-round / classic. A roughly one-hour guided tour introduces the history of the house, its remarkable architecture, its former occupants, and the landscape of the grounds — a foundational visit with something for everyone. (In 2026 the daytime guided tour is themed around the nation’s 250th anniversary as the “1876 Centennial Tour.”)

Fall (September–early November). October brings the house’s atmospheric seasonal programming, which has included immersive, theatrical experiences such as The Lady in White, in which Carmer’s own ghost story unfolds around visitors as they move through the rooms; Myths & Mysteries, exploring the legends and lore of the house; and a Poe-themed evening culminating in a dramatic reading of “The Raven.” Fall visits have also featured a curated memento moriexhibition drawn from a noted private collection.

Victorian Christmas (late November–December). The house is dressed in elaborate 1870s holiday finery — wreaths, garlands, and antique ornaments on three grand Christmas trees. Offerings have included both a classic Victorian Christmas tour and an immersive Spirit of Christmas Past, which culminates in a dramatic scene from Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.

Because the Octagon House is independently operated and its calendar shifts each year, always confirm current tours, dates, and prices — and book ahead — at armourstiner.com.

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