Clifton

Located on a steep hill overlooking the North Branch of the Maury River (known as the North River until the early twentieth century), this imposing brick house was built for Major John Alexander, a veteran of the War of 1812 and a prominent community leader. It began as a five-bay single-pile central-passage house with a two-bay two-story addition on the east and a one-story, two-bay wing attached to this. The molded brick cornices on the small wing and on the rear, as well as the Federal woodwork, are typical of early-nineteenth-century houses in the area. An earlier porch was replaced by the present two-story, classical portico. Craven modeled it after several local examples from the 1820s period. Probably the most notable resident of the house was William Preston Johnson, who taught at Washington and Lee University for two decades after the Civil War.