The George F. Clifford House is a historic house located in
Cornish,
York County, Maine. Built c. 1874, the house is a high-quality example of
Greek Revival style
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
, despite being built nearly 15 years after the style fell out of favor.
[George F. Clifford House]
Maine Historic Preservation Commission It was built for George Franklin Clifford, son of United States Supreme Court Justice
Nathan Clifford. The property was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places on April 10, 2010.
Description and history
The house is set in the main village of Cornish, at the northern side of the junction of High Road and Fiddle Lane. Immediately to the northwest, facing Main Street, stands the
Caleb R. Ayer House
The Caleb R. Ayer House (also known as the Ayer-Swasey House) is an historic house at 7 Main Street in Cornish, Maine, United States. The house is architecturally distinctive, with a high-style Greek Revival main block, built c. 1855, attached t ...
, the home of George Clifford's uncle, Secretary of State
Caleb Ayer
Caleb Robinson Ayer (May 22, 1813 – October 5, 1883) was an American politician from Maine. Ayer graduated from Dartmouth College in 1834 and was admitted to the bar in 1838. .
[Mitchell, Christi (2010). NRHP nomination for George F. Clifford House; available by request from the Maine State Historic Preservation Office]
It is a -story wood-framed structure, with a side gable roof, twin interior chimneys, clapboard siding, and a granite foundation. The south-facing main facade is five bays wide, with paired windows flanking a center entrance with window above. The entrance is set in a recess that is demarcated by pilasters, and includes sidelight windows and a rectangular multi-light transom window. The corners have paneled pilasters, which rise to an entablature and cornice that encircle the building. A hip-roofed, single-story porch extends across the front and around to the east, with a geometrically patterned railing and square posts with scroll-cut brackets. The house is joined via a narrow hyphen to a period carriage house. Its interior retains a high degree of original woodwork and hardware.
[
According to family history, the house was built for George F. Clifford by his father, United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Nathan Clifford in about 1874; it is not depicted on an 1872 map of the village. The younger Clifford was at that time already in a law partnership with his uncle, Caleb Ayer, and the north-facing secondary entrance faces the Ayer house. It is unclear why the house was built in the Greek Revival style, which had effectively been out of fashion for over ten years.][
]
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, George F. House
Greek Revival houses in Maine
Houses completed in 1874
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Houses in York County, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in York County, Maine