The Clifford House

Guilford David Clifford was originally from Rome, New York and moved to Florida after the end of the Civil War. After settling in Eustis, he became a local merchant and businessman. Due to the devastating orange freezes that occurred in 1894 and 1895, the building of Mr. Clifford’s dream home wasn’t until 1910 and was finally finished 1912.

 The Clifford House is a Neo-Classical styled two-story house and is 4,500 square feet. The house has unique qualities such as the flooring that is made of heart of pine and Italian tiled fireplaces. The quality of construction and preservation of the house is why it still stands today in such great condition. The house was home to the Clifford family for three generations until it was made into the Eustis Historical Museum.

The Clifford house is open to the public and is often visited to walk back in time to learn about the history of the city of Eustis. In addition to the Clifford House, the Citrus Museum can be found next to it. Eustis was once known as the “Orange Capitol of the World” until the freezes killed thousands of orange groves. In this museum it holds various memorabilia items and antique machinery that was used in Eustis for the orange production. 

The Clifford house was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1975 and was granted its local landmark status in 2010. 

Historical Landmarks, Eustis.org. Accessed January 31st 2021. http://www.eustis.org/residents/history/historical_landmarks.php.

This source is the City of Eustis website, it provides a brief description of the Clifford House that was built in 1910. The description includes information about G.D. Clifford, who was a significant figure in the development of the city. It also provides the dates of construction, architectural style of the building, and the purpose it serves today as the Eustis Historical Museum. 

Reed, Rick. Lake County History: Did you know?, Daily Commercial.com. May 5th 2019. Accessed January 31st 2021. https://www.dailycommercial.com/news/20190505/lake-county-history-did-you-know.

This source is an online article focused on the history of Lake County. It provides a short interview with Louise Carter about the history of the citrus industry in Eustis, Florida. There is some brief information regarding the Eustis Citrus Museum that sits behind the Clifford House. The Eustis Citrus Museum is only free-standing citrus museum in the state. In addition, the article mentions how the Clifford House was home to Mr. G.D. Clifford and his family and remained in the family until the eldest child Lottie C. Taylor had the house placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. 

The Clifford House , Eustis Historical Museum . Accessed January 31st 2021. http://www.eustishistoricalmuseum.org/History.asp.

This source is the Eustis Historical Museum website and has an in-depth description of the history and architecture of the house. It mentions how the orange freeze delayed the building of the house until the year 1910. The use of this source is to dive deeper into the significant architectural features that this house has that are impressive for the time of construction. The Clifford House turned into the Eustis Historical Museum after three generations of Clifford’s occupied the house. 

The Citrus Museum , Eustis Historical Museum . Accessed January 31st 2021. http://www.eustishistoricalmuseum.org/CitrusMuseum.asp.

This source is the Eustis Historical Museum website and has a description of the Citrus Museum that sits behind the Clifford House in Eustis. This museum is significant to Eustis because it has memorabilia related to the citrus industry. The city of Eustis was known as the “Orange Capital of the World” at one point because of the booming citrus industry until the back-to-back freezes destroyed the orange groves.