A la Ronde: The 16-Sided House That’s Never Short of Sunlight

Near the village of Lympstone, in Devon, England, stands a unique 18th century property—a one of a kind 16-sided house built by two fiercely independent spinster cousins, Jane and Mary Parminter, after they returned from a decade-long tour of Europe. Jane Parminter was the daughter of a wealthy Devon wine merchant. After her father’s death in 1784, Jane set off on a grand tour of Europe, as was the custom among upper-class Britons in those times, accompanied by her invalid sister Elizabeth, an orphaned cousin, Mary, and another female friend. Over several years these intrepid women explored France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and possibly Spain and Portugal, before returning to England in 1795, upon which they decided to build a house to remind them of their travels and provide a home for all the souvenirs they had collected. Photo: xlibber/Wikimedia Commons The two cousins negotiated the purchase of 15 acres of land near the newly fashionable resort of Exmouth, and built a charming 16-sided cottage whose design was said to be inspired by the octagonal basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna. Family history maintains that Jane herself designed the house, but it probably was the work of Bath architect John Lowder. The house, known as A la Ronde, consist of 20 rooms distributed in three floors. The ground floor originally housed the staff quarters, the wine cellar, a strong room and the kitchen, while the first floor was for the ladies. At the center of the house is an octagonal hallway with eight doors leading into as many rooms arranged radially. The rooms are connected with each other so it’s possible to make a complete circuit of these rooms without entering the octagon itself. This was important, because Jane and Mary liked to move about from one room to another following the warmth of the sun. They would start with breakfast on the east-facing room and then move around to finish with tea in an oval room on the west in the evening.