Albert Turner Clifton House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, in Waco, McLennan County, there stands a house that knows how to make a statement. We're talking about the Albert Turner Clifton House, built in 1921 for a man the marker calls a prominent Waco businessman and civic leader.

Albert Turner Clifton, born in 1879 and gone by 1948, clearly had an eye for something that would last. Because what he commissioned for his family was no ordinary Texas home. This was Tudor revival architecture, and if you don't know what that means, just picture it for a second.

A steeply-pitched roof reaching up like it has somewhere to be. A central gable dressed up with decorative half-timbering and vergeboard. And out front, a prominent three-bay brick and wood porch framed with Tudor arches.

Now that's a porch worth sitting on. The whole effect is dignified and deliberate, the kind of house that tells you something about the man who built it without him having to say a word. The Clifton family kept that house their own until 1950, nearly three decades after those Tudor arches first went up.

Some houses are just built to belong to the people who raised them. This was one of those houses.

What the marker says

Built in 1921 for the family of priminent Waco businessman and civic leader Albert Turner Clifton (1879-1948), this house is a fine example of the Tudor revival style of architecture. Outstanding features of the house include its steeply-pitched roof, central gable with decorative half-timbering and vergeboard, and a prominent three-bay brick and wood porch with Tudor arches. The home remained in Clifton family until 1950. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1991