Housing challenges are widespread today in Canada, but difficulty in accessing housing isn’t new. Starting in the 1850s, many people across the continent tried out a pseudoscientist’s new method of construction, promising to create better homes for less money. What happened to all these homes today, and what does the story have to do with the shapes of people’s skulls?

In this episode of Living History, we’ll take a tour of Woodchester in Bracebridge, Ontario, which one author labeled as the purest example of Orson Squire Fowler’s original octagon concept. We’ll hear from a historian about why the builder may have chosen Fowler’s design and see examples of octagonal buildings across the world.