La Maison O - History of the round house

Located in Dover, NH and built in 1865 the original structure was a water tank (cistern) used by  the Sawyer Woolen Mills with the water source being the nearby Bellamy River. The upper section which can be seen here was used as the warehouse and features an 8 foot arched entrance. It is situated on 3/4 of an acre on the top of a small hill. The tank is 50' in diameter and features a brick dentil cornice moulding around its perimeter which is accented by a copper edge. 

Abutting the property is the Old St Marys Cemetery featuring graves from the early 1800s. The look of the house (including the massive gargoyle on the roof overlooking the cemetery) gives the property the look and feel of a much older building something that has been seized upon by its various owners. 

In almost every case where possible attention has been given to maintain the period of the construction using mortise and tenon joinery, hand made nails, and organic materials.

Don was a young man 29 when he purchased the property and his money, muscle and vision would set in motion the use of this abandoned water tank as a residential property. 

Inside the tank was a hollow brick column that runs from the floor of the tank to the roof and supports the cupola.  At the foot of this column is a small hole. As water filled the tank water also flowed into the column and lifted a wooden platform that held the pole. The platform and pole are still there today along with the valves that controlled the water. You can see the column on the right side of this image, taken long before conversion started. 

The windows that go around the house are original and many people ask how the structure could be a cistern when it obviously had a floor and windows and even a door. Well the history is that the top floor was used to store battens of wool from the mill. Apparently the higher humidity from the water below was good for storing wool. Unfortunately we have no pictures of this. 

Use of the tank stopped sometime in the 50's and the property feel into disrepair until in 1973 when would it begin its conversion to one of the  most unique residences in New Hampshire. In 1973 the property was sold by Virginia Miller to Don Zappone for $7500. If you look closely at the listing you will see that under Occupied is the answer "Barn Swallows" and it was indeed. 

Don was a young man 29 when he purchased the property and his money, muscle and vision would set in motion the use of this abandoned water tank as a residential property. 

Utilizing the existing spoke structure Don laid out interior walls and built the first bathroom and kitchen in the property. It was heated from the fireplace, the chimney of which cab ne seen to the right. 

In this picture we can see several improvements to the exterior. It looks like the chimney has been repaired and enlarged for the fireplace. The windows have been updated and the front entrance looks complete with lighting on the sides. Some landscaping appears to have been done. Note the large bitch tree in front of the house. This birch and over 40 others were eventually removed from the property over time due to the birch bore a parasite common to New England. There are now no birch trees on the property. 

This image shows the section of floor that would be removed to create the loft over the lower floor as well as where the staircase would ultimately be built. In the right foreground there appears to be some type of stove that may have been used to heat the space during construction. 

Here you can see some of the first walls going up for the office, bathroom and bedroom. Also, note that the ceiling is completely closed off from the cupola in this photo. Later the planking would be removed to open up the cupola to the first floor before it was replaced with a larger cupola. In the background you can see the beginnings of the lofted area over what would become the lower floor 

At the far right edge you can see the edge of the front entrance. However the interesting part of this image is the upper left corner where a large bolt can be seen supporting a rope. We have no record of what this was used for but the bolt is there!

Here you can see the original 'beanpot' fireplace. Though converted to a gas fireplace, this fireplace is still capable of heating the entire structure. More recently however two additional gas units have been added and finally a central was installed though it is rarely used. 

As seen in this photo Don had a love for early American furnishings (though it is unknown why he selected the black and white tile floor. The home would achieve its more Gothic look from future owners. 

Don also crafted the staircase which remains in its original form today. Flooring was removed from a section of the spokes to create a loft between the two floors. We suspect this had something to do with heat distribution as well.  If you look carefully you can see a heating vent in the wall. It is unknown when this photo was taken but that vent is no longer there and the wall has been removed and replaced with a door that leads to the laundry room. 

This is another interesting picture that shows the many changes that the home has been through. The door in this picture is in now a wall, featuring a flat screen TV. In fact we have a hard time imagining the purpose of this door except may be as a closet at one time. The area behind it is now part of one the Round Houses secret rooms.  The floor plan in confusing to newcomers and its not surprising to find guests lost. 

This is an early shot of the main living floor showing the living room, the entrance to the office and bedroom. Off to the far left you can see the wall that made up the original kitchen. Much of this has changed. The floors were sanded down and are now their original white pine (the floors still retain the original hand poured nails) . Wainscoting was also added to the walls later on which you can see in later photos. Sadly the large anchor is no longer with the property. 

This was the bedroom before the most recent makeover which included adding the 200 year old cemetery gate as the headboard for the bed, versus the early American headboard seen here. Wainscoting and modern lighting have been added in as well to give the room a more finished look. The closet seen to the far left is still present but has also been revitalized as you can see in the gallery pics.

This an early view of the dining area (the kitchen is to the right). Not too much has changed here either, other than a more 'modern rustic' seating arrangement, the carpets have been removed and the floors are now natural pine instead of the dark stain pictured here. Also the wood fireplace has been replaced by yet another gas fireplace. 

This is the original office which has undergone similar changes to other rooms. The queen anne desk has been replaced with a more traditional early American office desk and the floors are now natural white pine. The floor to ceilings shelves remain in place. These shelves are unique in that they somewhat follow the curve of the home. When the library was added this idea was improved upon and the shelves were designed to exactly follow the curve of the wall which required many hours of carpentry. 

This is a very interesting picture showing the original kitchen and dining area. The kitchen was radically redesigned and upgraded from this state in to a true state of the art gourmet kitchen, yet still blends into the overall theme of the home. The results can be seen in the current gallery. The antique dining table, chairs and light fixtures are in keeping with the original vision of the home but are no longer present. 

This is an excellent shot  taken across the loft, showing the detailing of the balusters, the main entrance and off to the left is the wall that held the original kitchen. To the right of the entrance is the upper living room. The entire wall has been removed and the window next to the wall wall has now been captured into the new kitchen design. In order to hold he weight of the new island and refrigerator the joist work under the kitchen had to be completely upgraded.

Eventually Don decided to sell his creation to the next owner as can be seen in this listing (year unknown). Although Don certainly received a good price for his creation it is not known how he did after the considerable resources he expended to bring an old cistern to life