Harriet Irwin was born in 1828 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  Her father was the first president of the Davidson College, a school for young girls and women, at a time where not many women received formal educations.  Harriet was home schooled by her father and later attended the Institution for Female Education in Salem.  After graduation, following the lead of many young men, Harriet took some time off and traveled all over Europe.

Harriet married and settled in Charlotte, where she kept house.  She didn’t like cleaning the dirt from the corners of the rooms, so Harriet decided to design a house to eliminate this problem.  Although she had no formal architectural training, she designed and built a hexagonal house that had no sharp corners.  On August 24, 1869, Harriet became the first woman to receive a patent for an architectural innovation.  She later designed and built at least two more houses.

In 1871, Harriet published a novel.  She continued to write articles on various topics until her death in 1897.  She is buried under a hexagonal shaped tombstone.

For more information on Harriet Irwin, you can visit the following website:

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