This unusual house was built in 1859–1861 by Benjamin Franklin Petty, a carriage and furniture merchant, New York native, and pioneer settler of Clayton. It followed a design made popular by Orson S. Fowler’s 1854 book A Home for All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building, published in New York. In April 1865, the house served as staff headquarters for Union cavalry commander General Benjamin H. Grierson. Petty heirs sold the property to Judge and Mrs. Bob T. Roberts in 1901. In 1981, during the administration of Mayor Edward C. Ventress, the Town of Clayton purchased the property from the estate of Mary Roberts Beatty Armistead and has overseen its renovation.