About the original Cliffside
Among the many
historical and beautiful homes in Tennessee, the original Cliffside,
built on the
banks of Norris Creek in Fayetteville, claimed a colorful
legacy.
The
original structure in the Pennsylvania Federal hillside style began in
1820 by James Bright, the Surveyor of Fayetteville. In about
1840, James McGahee, the builder of the famed Stone Bridge across the
Elk River in Fayetteville, purchased the property and built a second
structure on the property in the Victorian Empire style.
He sold
this house to
Dr.
William Bonner, a noted surgeon, who modified the house to a French
Second Empire style after the Civil War, completing work in
1884. The
completed plans included all of the architectural features of a castle
with
turrets and towers. Call
bells were
installed in each of the rooms to resound centrally in the back hall,
and the
place was surrounded by many acres of rich farmland.
During
the time of construction, Dr. Bonner built another lovely home on
Mulberry
Avenue, now known as the Lamb place.
Both
homes were built at a cost of five thousand dollars each.
Following
the death of his wife, Dr.
Bonner offered a choice of homes to his daughter, who was W.D. Lamb’s
mother. Mrs. Lamb
chose the Mulberry Avenue home.
Cliffside
was a wedding present for another of the Bonner daughters, who married
Colonel James D. Tillman. Col.
Tillman was the colonel of the 41st Regiment of
Tennessee and later became ambassador to Ecuador.
March
27, 1890 the home was damaged extensively during a cyclone. The cost of restoring the
home was said to have been $5000.00, a sum equaling the cost of
original construction. Mrs.
Tillman accompanied her husband to Ecuador when he was appointed
ambassador, but because of ill health was forced to return to
Fayetteville to stay with her nephew, W.B. Lamb.
 When
Col. Tillman completed his term as ambassador and returned to
Tennessee, they decided to move to their farm near the Harms community
and sold the place in town in 1899 to John Harrison Rees, president of
the Elk National Bank and Elk Cotton Mill. He moved his
family
from Mulberry, Tennessee, and they lived there until his death.
In 1909, Cliffside
became the home of their son, Ernest Rees, and his wife, the former
Miss Beatrice Milhous of Wooly Springs, Alabama, who moved to the house
as a bride. Mr.
Rees was one of the owner/operators of the Elk Yarn Mill that closed
its doors in 1999.
Mrs.
Rees developed the grounds and gardens keeping with the
generous
proportions of the house. The name "Cliffside" was also
credited
to Mrs. Rees, the young bride who moved to Fayetteville from the resort
area where her father was a country doctor and hotelkeeper.
After
her death the property remaining vacant for several years the Estate
offered the house for sale at auction. The Mahaffey family
purchased the estate at auction in October 1968. The present
owner is Dr. William R. Mahaffey.
Tragically, this
historic building, the site of many weddings, was destroyed by fire in
September 2005 after eight years of operation as a bed and
breakfast.
But this was not the end of Cliffside.
 The Present Day Cliffside
The
plan was to restore
the original cottage built in 1820 in the Federal Style to
become
the new Inn at Cliffside.
Using bricks and poplar timbers recovered from
the mansion,
the cottage was built out and up into the present three story
structure. This was begun in the fall of 2005 and is now
complete. Chandeliers are in restoration, and much wooden
trim was reused. The sloping area to the Creek was terraced
with retaining walls using shelf rock from the addition.
A lawn, scenic garden
and young growing trees have reclaimed the site of the original mansion.
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