Clifton is a historic home located near

Shadwell Shadwell is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff (to the east). This riverside location has mea ...

, Albemarle County, Virginia. It was built about 1800, and is a large, rambling two-story, five bay, wood frame dwelling. The house has later 19th- and 20th-century

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...

-style additions and alterations. The front facade features a double level porch, added about 1930, and the interior has

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

details. Also on the property are the contributing brick office (c. 1833–1845); the ruins of an early 19th-century

spring house A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building, usually of a single room, constructed over a spring. While the original purpose of a springhouse was to keep the spring water clean by excluding fallen leaves, animals, etc., the enclosing stru ...

; the shaft of a 19th-century stone-lined ice house; an early 20th-century chicken coop and an altered 1920s brick garage. Clifton was built by Congressman and Virginia Governor Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. (1768–1828), who was married to

Martha Jefferson Martha Skelton Jefferson ( ''née'' Wayles; October 30, 1748 – September 6, 1782) was the wife of Thomas Jefferson. She served as First Lady of Virginia during Jefferson's term as governor from 1779 to 1781. She died in 1782, 19 years before ...

, the daughter of President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

. It was part of the never-to-be port of North Milton, a sister port to the now extinct village of Milton directly across the

Rivanna River The Rivanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the James River in central Virginia in the United States. The Rivanna's tributaries or ...

. an
Accompanying photo
/ref> With his partners, Randolph planned North Milton to support commercial and agricultural development, situated along the Milton Canal of the Rivanna River. The Clifton house first began as a warehouse and Randolph had a separate office building, which is still on the Clifton grounds. The house was expanded later and during the 19th century it had a one-story veranda, which has been replaced by the portico. Situated on 100 acres, it has operated as an inn since 1983. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1989.

References

External links

Owner's website

Clifton
(photograph) Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia Houses completed in 1800 Houses in Albemarle County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Albemarle County, Virginia {{AlbemarleCountyVA-NRHP-stub