The Historic Clifton Hotel
Location: 7134 Main Street, Clifton, VA 22024
Present Owner: Serge Barbe and Jim Swing
Present Occupant: Serge Barbe, "Hermitage Inn"
Current Use: Restaurant
Statement of Significance: The Clifton Hotel built by Harrison Otis in 1869 was one of the first structures in the town of Clifton. A popular resort hotel during the late 19th century and well known by those form Richmond to New York for the healing mineral waters of its Paradise Springs. Notables that have stayed at the hotel include: Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Chester A. Arthur and Rutherford B. Hayes.
Part One: History of Area
The Development of the Clifton Area
As in the cases of many other towns across the country during this time, Clifton's birth, development, and growth was directly linked to the rise and fall of the fortunes of the railroad. In 1848 the Orange and Alexandria Railroad Company was developed mainly to provide transportation of raw materials like the locally grown tobacco and wheat of Virginia to eastern and western markets. The development of the O&A line spurred the development of other smaller lines and station stops along the way including the still existing Burke Station and Fairfax Stations, Sangsters Station, and Union Mills Station just to name a few. The development of the railroad in this area led to the commencement of postal service in 1852 and expansion of communication lines for the city to more rural areas. ( Artemel et al. 1:425)
With 1861 marking the beginning of the Civil War the O&A railroad not only provide an important supply line it also served as means for transportation of troops. The Union Army incorporated the O&A into their US Military Railroad system and tried to keep trains running to carry both. Clifton was the Southern most point for the Union army and as a result soldiers were placed to keep guard of the railroad fines against Confederate attacks.
In 1863, as a direct result of the Civil War Devereux Station was established. The main function of this station, now commonly know as the town of Clifton, was to transport wood to the US Military Railroad for boilers for the engines of the Army's trains. Clifton was in the middle of the transportation lines for the war and often had troops marching through town, fighting small battles, and setting up camp in the wooded areas along Popes Head Creek. (Netherton 13)
After the war there was a new optimism among Virginians. Cheap land, a milder climate, a longer growing season, and proximity to Washington, D.C., made Fairfax County a desirable place to live. One of those people to take advantage of what Fairfax County had to offer was Harrison G. Otis, noted as being the original developer of the town of Clifton. His activities exemplified new patterns of land distribution, post-war economic growth, and increased economic dependence on the modernizing railroad that was taking place because of the utter ruin it experienced from the war. Otis had purchased a variety of land parcels to include that of the O&A railroad also included Devereux Station (named Clifton Station in 1868). On one of these parcels he built his hotel, the Clifton Hotel. (Netherton 17)
Otis continued buying and developing land in Clifton. His land cultivation and development began receiving public notice in 1868, as the Alexandria Gazette would publish stories on Otis' experience in grape cultivation and his planting of vineyards. Large tracts of open land that Otis had bought had begun being advertised as a fruitful opportunities for those willing to buy it. On February 9, 1869, Clifton officially became a post office depot with H.G. Otis as postmaster. (Netherton 146)
Otis' ambitiousness in land development and his vision of Clifton as a lumbering distribution center are a part of the reason that Clifton as we now know it, came into existence. Through his petitions to the county court justices to open a road from Yates Ford Road to Clifton Station and Colchester Road, and the realignment of Centreville-Clifton Road in 1882, Clifton became accessible to farmers and businessmen alike. It is thought that Clifton attracted people for its resort like quality. A spring does exist on the western portion of the original property lines were the Clifton Hotel sits.
Part Two: Architectural Data
Architectural Summary
As noted earlier on in this text that the Clifton Hotel is one of the first buildings of record in Clifton, built in 1869 by Harrison Otis in the colonial style. The foundation was of fitted fieldstone without mortar joints. The frame is of balloon construction with painted rough sawn pine clapboard siding. The roof is made of tin with standing seam connections. It is a three-story structure 40 feet wide and 50 feet long with the 40-foot side facing the street. There are four fireplaces, pine floors and 12 light windows.
Historical Use
Historically, the Clifton Hotel was listed as a resort in an 1882 excursion guide of Virginia. The hotel could hold fifty guests and could I rent for $7 per week or $27 per month. (Netherton 5 1) The springs on the property were seen as a major attraction for summer boarders. The Clifton Hotel holds many undocumented accounts of US presidents and generals who sought the relief from summer heat of Washington. It is said that President Ulysses S. Grant used to frequent the hotel to escape the fast-paced life of Washington. The farm on which the hotel stood boarded the General's horses for several years, it is also said that General Grant met John Singleton Mosby at the Clifton Hotel in 1877 before the president appointed him consul to Hong Kong. Other dignitaries hosted by the Clifton Hotel include Rutherford B. Hayes and Theodore Roosevelt. It is unfortunate that no guest register for the Clifton Hotel survived, as it can not be made certain that a president ever slept in the Clifton Hotel. (Netherton 53)
Historical Appearance
Photographs of the hotel show that the exterior has not undergone any major changes throughout the years. The changes that have taken places are:
a) The two main entry doors were originally to the far left and right of center and were replaced by windows. The main entry door was moved at the time of rehabilitation to a central location.
b) The door on the west elevation of the building has been moved from a more central location toward the left of center.
c) Originally on the west elevation two windows to the right of where the door was located were placed directly next to each other. The windows have since been placed to reflect the symmetry of the upper levels on the west elevation.
d) Originally visitors should walk up to the front entry without a level change. With the leveling and pouring of a sound foundation, there are three stairs from street level to entry level.
e) Originally the columns that hold the veranda were placed on 18" brick piers. The columns are now on wooden piers.
t) The clapboard on the first level street elevation was originally placed in a vertical position. The rehabilitation process placed the clapboard in an horizontal orientation.
g) Early depictions of the hotel show evidence of decorative eave angles not present today.
h) The veranda was only along the street elevation of the building and now sweeps around he east elevation.
The interior of the hotel has been altered several times. Around the tine of W.W.I the second and third floors were remodeled into apartments allowing the arched wooden doors from British war ships to be retained. The :first floor was reinforced during the 1920's and was adapted into an ice cream parlor. For a few years it was even an automobile repair shop. Many of the attic raters had sustained extensive fire damage.
The Clifton Hotel, having been abandoned for over 40 years, was in a very denial state. Upon surveying the structure it was established that the building was going to need major work to rehabilitate into a workable structure. To rehabilitate the structure they had to meet the guidelines set forth by the Secretary of the Interiors Standards and Guidelines. On a county level they had to bring the build up to code and at the same time please the Architectural Review Board. As-built drawings for the structure were formulated by a local architect as no other documentation was available. These documents were needed to draw up plans for the restaurant and to show and request approval from the necessary parties. in the plans there was addition created to accommodate a kitchen and access stairway to the third floor. Another new addition to the surrounding was an elaborate patio and stairway to the patio that was accessible directly through French doors on the second level off of the main dining room. The plans had to allow for duct-work for mechanical equipment, insulation and electrical conduit. This dropped the ceiling heights in certain areas of the building. The formulation and approving of the plans was an incredible undertaking that persisted for a lengthy 3 years.
Part Three: Structural and Construction Data
Structural Summary: Original State
The foundation of the hotel was basically fieldstone fitted on top of one another. No mortar was used to secure joints. Fieldstones were used from local land. The floor of the first level was just a plain dirt floor. The structure is of balloon framing and used pine milled on the property. The floor joists were places 16" on center and notched and peg together as were all other wood members including the pine floors and rafters. Forming the roof were rafters 16" on center with perpendicular 1"x6" planks placed 4 to 5 inches apart. Tin was placed directly over the planking system.
Existing Conditions
When rehabilitation commenced in 1985, the hotel was a 12" out of level from one side to the other. The first job was to jack the delicate structure up on about 64 jacks to level the structure. The fieldstone foundation was then replaced with a poured in place concrete foundation. Some of the original fieldstone is seen in the mechanical room at the rear of the building. Most all of the original wood in the structure was unsalvageable. Although new pine was used, great care was taken to use the original technique of balloon-framing. In order for the roof to stand and to stabilize the structure, four steel columns were run from foundation to roof, this created the new entry and grand staircase of the structure. The installation of these columns allowed the contractor to chase duct-work and electrical conduit through the furred out columns.
The floors joists were sintered with steel joists and a subsystem was installed on top of that to allow for the reinstallation of the wood floors. The roof rafters and planks where replaced and the roof sheathed and standing seam tin applied. Insulation was also incorporated into the structure. A few of the major obstacles in this process were that of retaining as much of the original materials as possible. Although much of the material had to be replaced and stabilized with additional materials and methods, the contractor tried to follow the original building methods and incorporated the modern necessities such as weatherproofing and insulation.
For example:
a) The framing method use was that of balloon framing.
b) The roof planks were 1"x6"s spaced 4 to 5 inches apart. The exterior wood, windows, and doors were also basically unsalvageable. The windows and doors were restored and the wood siding replaced with cedar siding and painted. The sweeping veranda was also derelict and was taken down and replicated. Some of the materials that were rehabilitated and used on the interior of the building were the knotty pine wood floors, some of the archways that were used to frame entrances to the hotel rooms and the fireplaces.
The total rehabilitation was completed within 12 months.
Bibliography
Nan Netherton. Brigadoon in Virginia Clifton: Clifton Betterment Association, 1980.
Janice Artemel, et. al. Fairfax County, Virginia, A History. Fairfax County: Printed in the USA, 1991
Newspaper Articles
Beck, Jodi. "New Life Planned for Victorian Hotel." The Washington Star 8 Dec. 1976, sec. C: 1,8.
der Tatevasion, Roosevelt. "Victorian Hotels Loom Large In History of Two Old Towns." Fairfax County Sun Echo 14 Nov. 1963, sec. A: I+.
Green, Frank. "Supervisors Eye Clifton Hotel Fate." The Fairfax County Globe 2 Dec. 1976, sec. A: 1,7.
Higgins, Adrian. "Restaurant to open in Clifton Landmark." Fairfax County Journal 3 Sept. 1987, sec. A: 1, 12 Netschert, Donna. "Clifton Hotel/Hermitage Inn to open within three weeks." Centre View 25 July, 1987, p. I 1. Zane, Missy. "The Hermitage Inn Not Remote Any More." The Connector 27 Apr. 1989, p.30, 35.
Interviews
Interview. Serge Barbe, by the author, April 9, 1998 and April 14, 1998.
Interview. James Hricko, by the author, April 10, 1998.
Interview. Jim Swing, by the author, April 24, 1998.